The committee met at 9:03 a.m.

[D. Routley in the chair.]

Deliberations

D. Routley (Chair): All right, everybody. We’ll call the meeting of the special committee to review the Police Act to order.

I’d ask for a motion to move the meeting in camera, please.

A. Olsen: Before we go in camera, can I just raise the issue that I’ve raised previously?

D. Routley (Chair): Yes.

A. Olsen: I think it’s appropriate to have a conversation about this not in camera.

I would like to invite the Minister or Ministry of Public Safety to present briefly to our committee, recognizing the timing that we have on the regulation change, around an issue that was raised previously to this committee by three presenters around the special constables complaint and discipline regulation that was amended last year by the Ministry of Public Safety.

[9:05 a.m.]

We’ve heard the impact of a specific court case — there are others as well — with respect to union disciplinary processes and also oversight and accountability. In those presentations — I’ve gone back and reviewed them — there was a door that was opened to making sure that all special constables are accountable through independent means.

Some work has been done by the ministry while this committee has been meeting to, I think, make some changes to the regulations. I think it’s important for us to know what those changes are, what the material impact of those changes is in terms of the union processes so that as we’re drafting our recommendations, we can be clear about any other extra independent oversight and accountability measures we might want to recommend to the ministry.

D. Davies (Deputy Chair): I certainly support Adam’s recommendation.

One of the things that I’ve come to see in this committee is the complex nature of what falls under as a peace officer, all these little pieces that I never thought about when I was first appointed to this committee.

Looking at some of the information that we heard from the BCGEU in those presentations…. I think it was very valuable. I think it will have an impact on our recommendations on how we move forward.

Understanding that there have been some decisions made, I think it would be very valuable for us as a committee, as we’re in this position right now to start making these recommendations, to hear from the ministry on what’s happening right now, before we get to where we’re going.

I would certainly support that.

K. Kirkpatrick: I want to express my concern as to how there can be changes made to something very relevant to this committee without us being aware of it, without that being brought to us and without waiting for the outcome of the work of the committee. I really, truly don’t understand that, so I would like to have the ministry come and explain that to us.

D. Routley (Chair): I’ve had a couple of years in this place, and it is pretty common. I’ve been on the FIPPA committee when this has happened in the past. I was not pleased about it, but the work goes on in the ministry.

I agree that we need to understand that, and we don’t really understand the context or the detail of it at this point. I agree that we need to ask for that explanation and understand it as we consider recommendations.

The concern I have is obvious, and that’s timing. We need to have a conversation about our schedule, but we’ll do that in a subsequent portion of the meeting. It impacts this discussion because we face such a challenge being able to have in-constituency time. People want to travel.

We’re also adding a couple of things now to the staff burden. They have workflow with subsequent committees as well, so we’re going to have to try to fit our square shapes into round holes here, but I think we can do it. I agree.

Unless there’s objection to that…. No.

Okay, then we’ll work on that, whatever form it takes and whenever it happens. It may be at the beginning of one of our deliberation meetings, because I don’t expect it should take a huge amount of time to figure out the detail of it.

Is everybody okay with that?

D. Davies (Deputy Chair): Are we going to send a letter, then, from the Clerk’s office to the ministry, just requesting a 15-minute delegation at the start of said meeting?

D. Routley (Chair): Yes.

I’d ask for a motion to move the meeting in camera.

From Adam and seconded by Dan.

Motion approved.

The committee continued in camera from 9:09 a.m. to 11:54 a.m.

[D. Routley in the chair.]

D. Routley (Chair): We are out of in camera.

Can I ask for a motion to adjourn?

From Karin, seconded by Rachna.

Motion approved.

The committee adjourned at 11:54 a.m.