John Les Replies To Request for Hearing into Ian Bush Death

By 250 News

B.C.'s Solicitor General John Les says he will not look at a public inquiry into the death of Ian Bush until the RCMP Public Complaints Commission has completed its investigation;

The following is a letter sent to an Opinion250 reader from Mr. Les’s office spelling out his position on the matter.

Dear Sir;

The Honorable Gordon Campbell, Premier, and the Honorable Shirley Bond, Minister of Education, have forwarded me your July 7, 2007 e-mails regarding a public inquiry into the death of Mr. Ian Bush.  I apologize for the delay in responding.

By way of background, on October 29, 2005, Mr. Bush was arrested by a member of the RCMP Houston Detachment for obstructing a police officer.  Mr. Bush and the officer returned to the detachment office and during their time there an incident occurred that resulted in the officer discharging his firearm and fatally wounding Mr. Bush.

The RCMP’s North District Major Crime Unit conducted an investigation into the shooting and results of that investigation were sent to the New Westminster Police Department for a further, independent review.  The results of the RCMP’s investigation and New Westminster Police Department’s review were forwarded to Crown Counsel on June 26, 2006.  Crown Counsel sought additional information from the investigators and that information was provided on August 8, 2006.

The Criminal Justice Branch concluded that the available evidence did not support charging the officer with any criminal offence.  In particular, senior Crown Counsel were unanimous in their conclusion that the evidence supported the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada relating to “self-defence” as a justifiable defence in these circumstances.

The BC Coroners Service recently conducted a Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Mr. Bush.  The inquest allowed for the public presentation of all evidence relating to Mr. Bush’s death.  The presiding coroner and a five-person jury heard evidence from subpoenaed witnesses in order to determine the facts surrounding the death.  The jury made four recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances.

Mr. Paul Kennedy, Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints against RCMP, has also initiated a public complaint into the conduct of RCMP officers involved in this incident from the point of first contact with Mr. Bush to his death, and the criminal investigation relating to his death.  This investigation will include whether the RCMP officers involved in the events of  October 29, 2005, and in the criminal investigation complied with all appropriate policies, procedures and guidelines and whether these are adequate, and whether the investigation was carried out in an adequate and timely fashion.  The Commission is an independent agency established by the Parliament of Canada to ensure that public complaints against the RCMP are examined impartially.

At this time it is appropriate that Mr. Kennedy complete his investigation and make his findings known.  As such, the province is not considering a public inquiry at this time.

Thank you for writing.

Yours truly,

John Les
Solicitor General

pc:     The Honourable Gordon Campbell
        The Honourable Shirley Bond

The Public Complaints Commission has not indicated when it might complete its investigation into the case, but investigators  did attend the Coroner's inquest in Houston.  The Public Complaints Commission is also  conducting an investigation into the police shooting death of Kevin St. Arnaud in Vanderhoof.

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