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A member of the RCMP arrives on scene of a shots heard call in Surrey, B.C., on May 31, 2019.JONATHAN HAYWARD/CP

Two members of a legislature committee assembled to figure out how to reform policing in British Columbia have a combined 70 years experience as RCMP officers, raising questions about whether that expertise is an asset or obstacle in remaking law enforcement.

New Democrat MLA Garry Begg and BC Liberal Mike Morris are part of the nine-member Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act, which regulates how policing services in the province are regulated and delivered. Both have had long careers in policing – 38 years for Mr. Begg and 32 years for Mr. Morris – and say it is in desperate need of reform. They say they have some ideas and are intent on hearing out the public and stakeholders.

Mr. Morris, the MLA for Prince George-MacKenzie and a former solicitor-general, said the review is a “major opportunity” for change. “I think the time has long past where reforms have to be made to policing, not only in British Columbia but right across Canada,” he said.

But critics question whether two men who spent so much of their careers as Mounties will be objective enough to recommend wholesale changes.

“[It] impacts public trust and the perception of fairness in this review examining systemic racism in policing, police oversight and, ironically, public trust in policing,” Harsha Walia, the BC Civil Liberties Association’s executive director, said in a statement.

B.C. Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth announced the all-party committee in July, saying the 45-year-old Police Act was “outdated” and in need of a significant update. Terms of reference for the committee’s work include looking at oversight and governance under the act, the scope of systemic racism in B.C. police agencies and the role of police regarding such social issues as mental health, wellness, addictions and harm reduction. The committee is supposed to report back by May 14, 2021.

Asked about the concerns of the civil liberties association, Mr. Farnworth’s office said that every member appointed to the committee brings a special area of expertise and experience.

Mr. Begg was first elected in 2017 after a policing career that ended with eight years with the Surrey RCMP, where his roles included being district commander.

“I recognize the need for change and embrace it. It’s a jaundiced and biased view to look at a person and career path and say they are going to be biased, and not in favour of change,” said Mr. Begg, the Surrey-Guildford MLA.

“We shouldn’t get ahead of our skis here. What we’re trying to do here is enter into a process with the public where we will hear from many voices so we can see what the public needs.”

But Rob Gordon, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University, said the optics of the pair on the committee are poor. “You’ve got two career RCMP officers sitting on this key committee, albeit they’re MLAs and retired,” he said.

Prof. Gordon questioned whether individuals who have trained as Mounties could overcome being trained in the RCMP view of policing. “These are individuals who would not, in my view, be entirely open to any sort of any progressive reforms. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating,” he said. “My feeling is they will dig in and moderate the extent to which RCMP issues get addressed.”

He said the two former officers will provide the committee with policing expertise, but that the committee could also easily solicit that expertise from outside consultants.

Ms. Walia, of the civil liberties association, said she does not want the process of review to stall “necessary and immediate” changes to policing such as a ban on street checks, redirecting policing funding to community safety programs, Indigenous-led police oversight and non-enforcement of simple drug-possession offences.

“There is a great urgency and necessity for concrete steps to be taken immediately. No one needs another lengthy review that results in unfulfilled recommendations,” she wrote.

A Mountie for 32 years before retiring in 2005, Mr. Morris said he has been thinking about changes to policing for several years. “There’s nothing wrong, in my opinion anyways, with coming out with a half-baked plan and then trying to live up to it after you have announced it,” he said.

Born in Quesnel, B.C., Mr. Morris started his career in Prince George in 1973. He retired as a superintendent for the North District. He was first elected in 2013.

Both MPs say they have not yet committed to specific policies, but say police have to rethink the way they handle such issues as addictions and mental-health calls.

“The police used to be the call of last resort . Over the last 10 or 20 years, they have become the call of first resort. I think we have to look at what calls we expect the police to be able to answer to and we have to look at other partners in the community to step up and offer alternatives to the police,” Mr. Begg said.

Mr. Begg, who is from the northern Ontario community of Kenora, said he was smitten with the RCMP as a child.

He joined, started in Nanaimo, B.C., went to the Interior and spent his last 20 years in the Lower Mainland.

As a police officer, he said he always felt there needed to be a change in the way police dealt with mental-health calls. “Largely we dealt with those issues by simply arresting the person and taking them to the hospital,” he said.

Mental health and drug addiction, he said, are among the issues that need a new approach, likely through community partnerships.

On systemic racism in policing, Mr. Begg said of the RCMP, that systemic racism is defined by policies and procedures that are racist. “The members themselves may not be racist, but because of the culture they exist in, systemic racism becomes an issue.”

Mr. Morris said he never heard the term until recent months. “Is there racism in policing? I came across some events over the course of my term as a supervisor and as a police manager, but the amount of racism in the force has never been an issue that has been identified to me,” he said.

Still, he added that the mitigation of systemic racism is going to be an issue for the committee.

Committee member Nicholas Simons, a New Democrat, played down the possibility of the two former Mounties swaying the committee one way or another.

“No one is taking it over,” he said. “There is going to be an opportunity for all voices to be heard.”

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