Police union calls for 'fulsome public safety plan' in B.C. ahead of provincial vote

An RCMP patch is seen during a news conference in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, April 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The national union for RCMP officers is seeking to make public safety and bail reform a British Columbia election issue after repeat offenders were arrested for violent crimes, including a pair of gruesome attacks in downtown Vancouver last week.

The National Police Federation says it has launched a "pre-election program" calling on the winner of the Oct. 19 election to deliver a "fulsome public safety plan."

It describes the current bail system as "catch and release" and says there's a lack of data-informed support and monitoring of repeat offenders, resulting in public safety being compromised.

Thirty-four-year-old Brendan McBride was arrested last week over what police are calling two stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver, resulting in the death of 70-year-old Francis Laporte, while another victim's hand was cut off.

Court documents show that at the time of the attacks, McBride was on probation over an assault in White Rock, B.C., last September, and the man had been sentenced to 12 months of probation before that in July 2022 for a separate assault in North Vancouver.

National Police Federation vice-president Rob Farrer says the timing of the organization's call ahead of the election was somewhat coincidental, since it was more of a response to recent cases such as the Vancouver stranger attacks.

"It's not about the election per se," Farrer said. "We're trying to make sure that we keep on top of this. We're hearing from our officers, they're seeing it every day and British Columbians and Canadians generally are seeing this as a major issue."

He also said that while provincial governments tend to point to bail reform being a federal issue, it doesn't absolve the provinces, including B.C., of not doing enough.

"We're asking that whoever makes up the new government really be prepared to deliver a fulsome public safety plan, including what the bail-reform initiatives would look like — and not simply saying it's a federal responsibility.

"Because it is not simply a federal responsibility. It's a joint responsibility for both governments."

Many of the initiatives called for by the federation are echoed in a July 2023 report released by the group about Canadian bail reform.

In the report, the federation called for the provinces to improve data collection and sharing on criminal cases across Canada, which would give judges a more complete picture of a person's criminal history when they make bail decisions.

Farrer said more investment in and deployment of bail-enforcement monitoring technology should also be a part of a comprehensive answer to repeat offenders in society, as well as standardized training qualifications for justices presiding over bail hearings.

"It's not just us that's saying it," Farrer said of the federation's call for reform, noting an poll taken in August in B.C. commissioned by the group showed 82 per cent of those surveyed were concern about crime by repeat offenders.

"I think that's a very, very strong majority of people across the province … who think that the current systems are not meeting their needs. And as a result, we're seeing these incidents like the one in Vancouver."

The National Police Federation is Canada's largest police union that represents about 20,000 RCMP members both inside and outside the country.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.