OVERSIGHT IS ESSENTIAL

The federal government is apparently proceeding with plans to create a watchdog to handle complaints against members of the Canada Border Services Agency. The pledge comes after Bolante Idowu Alo, 49, died in the custody of agency officers while being deported Aug. 7.

The Nigerian man was being escorted on a KLM flight headed from Calgary to Amsterdam when a reported altercation forced the plane to return to the gate. Alo was found in medical distress and rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Civil liberty advocates are calling for an independent probe, but there’s no reason to believe Calgary police homicide detectives can’t handle the investigation in this instance to determine if criminal charges are appropriate. It’s what the police do all the time, after all.

Still, it is unusual that the border agency isn’t subjected to an external body that could provide oversight.

In Alberta, for instance, municipal police forces and the RCMP are overseen by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team — a civilian agency responsible for investigating serious matters involving police.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association’s Josh Patterson notes there is more to consider than whether criminal charges are appropriate, which can only be determined by police and the justice system. Not every event that demands scrutiny involves death. There are less serious incidents that should be examined by an arm’slength agency.

“A CBSA officer could have violated 10 different CBSA rules and regulations, but committed no crime,” says Patterson. “We’re still not going to have an independent agency that looks at CBSA’S conduct as a whole in this incident, well beyond whether there was any criminal issue.”

That’s expected to change. A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the government is working to ensure border services are “worthy of the trust of Canadians.”

“We are working on separate legislation to create an appropriate mechanism to review CBSA officer conduct and conditions, and handle specific complaints,” says Scott Bardsley.

Let’s hope the government follows through on its pledge in a timely manner.

Such oversight will come too late for Alo, but it will ensure the trust of Canadians and those who visit our nation. It will also assure border agency employees that they’ll be dealt with fairly.

Goodale doesn’t need to create a cumbersome administrative body — just one that people can have confidence in.

Calgary Herald Editorial Board