Brian Giesbrecht: The RCMP Failed Canadians at Kamloops

The RCMP has a long and honourable history, and has served Canadians well. RCMP top brass and regular officers have always insisted on doing their job in their own way. They have robustly specifically resisted all attempts by politicians to interfere in their clear mandate to enforce the law.

However, in May 2021 at Kamloops, the RCMP abandoned that honourable tradition, and abdicated their most important responsibility.

When it was announced that “remains” had been found of 215 former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) students, the local RCMP did their duty and immediately began to investigate. Indigenous leaders had claimed that the school grounds should be considered a major crime scene, and the RCMP is mandated in most parts of B.C. to investigate all major crimes. The investigation would normally have included the securing of the school grounds to prevent evidence tampering, the interviewing of all people connected to the claim, and prompt investigation of the alleged crimes. -- More...