It’s been nearly a year, and no progress has been made in the independent investigation of historical sexual abuse allegations against several members of the Prince George RCMP.
In March of 2023, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is in charge of the file – a civilian agency that reviews serious interactions between police and the public.
Today (Friday) Farnworth stated MyPGNow.com the file is still open.
“This investigation is still ongoing and continues to be led by an outside agency. As Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, I am not directly involved but we are committed to providing answers to the families affected.
“As this matter is still under investigation, I will not be providing any further comment at this time. I will provide an update when it’s appropriate.”
In June of 2004, Judge David Ramsay was sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous girls.
In addition, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, said nine Mounties and one lawyer who are connected to the file have yet to be charged. Recent allegations claim the Mounties did nothing to investigate the claims, some of which date back more than two decades.
In a previous interview with Vista Radio, Retired Staff Sergeant Garry Kerr stated he was contacted by retired Constable Lisa Mackenzie who discovered disturbing videotapes in the basement of her home – a space she shared with her ex, who was also an RCMP officer.
The tapes reportedly showed police officers in Prince George harassing Indigenous girls.
Kerr who made the first phone call to superiors in 2011 has been very critical of the force’s handling of the initial investigation.
“They clearly took many, many steps to silence me if you will. The lies, the neverending misinformation from senior RCMP officers in BC to myself ultimately led to myself making a complaint to the Public Complaints Commission in late 2015.”
Furthermore, Kerr received a report from the Public Complaints Commission in March of 2021, six years after making his initial complaint.
“It is my understanding that the Public Complaints Commission finished their report in 2018 and it was in 2018 that the report was forwarded to then-RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki who sat on the report for three years.”
In April of 2022, an all-party committee recommended the government move to replace the RCMP with a provincial police force.
The government’s latest contract with the RCMP expires in 2032.
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