Nova Scotia’s police watchdog may expand throughout Atlantic provinces

Plans are in the works to create a single, civilian-led agency to police the police in Atlantic Canada, though a debate is brewing on whether bigger changes are needed to build trust in the region’s law officers.

Senior government officials in the four provinces have confirmed the plan is to expand Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team into a regionwide investigator.

“We definitely agreed this is a concept worth recommending to our respective governments,” said Michael Comeau, deputy minister of justice in New Brunswick.

He said four deputy ministers of justice met in early June and came to an agreement in principle, though cabinet ministers and premiers have yet to sign off on the plan.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Justice Minister Andrew Parsons described the idea as the one his government is leaning towards, noting his province is looking for ways to save money.

“One of the big drawing points of an Atlantic SIRT team is that there are economies of scale that could be achieved there,” he said.

In Nova Scotia, Justice Minister Mark Furey said the idea is a way to use expertise his province has developed. In Prince Edward Island, Justice Department official Gordon Garrison said his government already uses the Nova Scotia-based agency and he said he favours the creation of a regional body. However, some observers say the four provinces should go beyond cost considerations and make bigger changes to strengthen civilian oversight of the police.

The existing watchdog in Nova Scotia has a mandate to investigate cases that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault, domestic violence or other matters of “significant public interest” that may have resulted from the actions of a police officer, and to decide if charges should be laid.