Nunavut considers reforming investigations into RCMP-involved death or misconduct

Five options for improving public confidence in police-on-police investigations in the case of RMCP involved death or misconduct have been presented to Nunavut's Justice Minister.

The March 7 report was provided to CBC News, but with all five options redacted.

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The options were redacted on the premise that, "Should this information be released and published widely, the pressure could affect [the Minister of Justice's] ability to make a neutral, unprejudiced decision," the department said in an email.

Justice Minister Keith Peterson commissioned the study shortly after taking over as minister in March 2016. The full report was never made public.

The review, conducted by the department of justice, was compiled in response to "general concern" that police should not investigate police without civilian oversight in the case of death or misconduct involving the RCMP.

The report outlines a review of different police oversight mechanisms in other Canadian jurisdictions, with specific options for Nunavut.

Nunavut and N.W.T. only jurisdictions in Canada without civilian oversight of police

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are the only jurisdictions in Canada without some form of their own civilian body overseeing the police, according to the report.

Nunavut contracts the RCMP for all levels of policing across the territory.

Currently, the Government of Nunavut has the Ottawa Police Service investigate incidents of RCMP misconduct and police-involved deaths.

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Canadian models considered

The report lays out the police oversight mechanisms in all jurisdictions in Canada.

Saskatchewan and Quebec both have limited civilian oversight bodies without the capacity to investigate major incidents involving death or criminal activity by an officer, the report says. 

But in Quebec, when an investigation is referred to an outside police force, its findings are still provided to a civilian police oversight body as well as the Public Safety minister.

All the other provinces have some version of an arm's length body to manage investigations.

Yukon uses the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, paying for travel, accommodation, and the equivalent of the salary for one investigator, according to the report.

In Nunavut, the public can make a complaint about the RCMP to the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, an independent body overseeing the RCMP across Canada, but the complaint is first referred back to the RCMP to investigate.

Only if the complainant is dissatisfied with the results of that investigation will the CRCC review the incident.

Population, remote communities, culture play a factor

Yvonne Niego, the assistant deputy justice minister, said the report did not look outside of Canada for models to follow because that data was difficult to obtain and less relevant.

In Canada, she said every jurisdiction uses the RCMP in some capacity, even if it's only for policing at the federal level. 

"The difficulty with these models is Nunavut is unique and these unique factors will need to be considered in adopting our own model."

Niego says that the size of the population, the remoteness of communities, and cultural dynamics must all figure into the territory's plan.

In a police accountability town hall held last week, event organizer Thomas Rohner said Nunavut has the opportunity to pioneer a new method of police oversight, rather than base its model on what another jurisdiction may be doing.

Nunavut had 131 police officers in the territory in 2015 and 2016, according to the territory's statistics bureau.

Compared to the provinces, all three territories had the highest number of police officers per 100,000 people, but they also run high on the crime severity index.

Niego says department staff is looking at how the models could be adapted and changed, but it's too early to say what the final model might look like.