Inquiry to explore RCMP home entries in flooded High River

The forced entries by RCMP into hundreds of High River homes to seize guns during the 2013 flood will be subject to an inquiry by Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner.

In a letter to applicant Dennis Young, who’s seeking disclosure of RCMP documents on the home entries and confiscations, commissioner Jill Clayton stated she agrees to an extended time for an inquiry into the matter, to be completed in October 2020.

When about 300 people refused to evacuate flooded High River in June 2013, Mounties said they entered homes to seize firearms to prevent them from falling into the hands of burglars.

In total, 609 firearms were taken by officers from 105 homes with Mounties saying many of the guns were left in plain view.

At the end of June 2013, those firearms were handed back to their owners as they returned home.

Young said Mounties forced their way into 745 homes and ultimately caused $2.45 million in damage to 2,210 residences.

In a written request to the commissioner, Young said the importance of the documents’ release is in “rebuilding trust in the RCMP and the government among a large number of residents of High River and in many other communities in Alberta who may question the authority of police to kick in their doors when an evacuation order is given.

“Why were the forced entries and damages allowed to continue for so many days and weeks, and who ordered the forced entries to happen and why?”

He noted the hundreds of pages of records were being withheld under the guise of solicitor-client privilege.

“Was the issue of ‘public interest immunity’ the legal advice that was given in the forced-entries legal authorities paper being withheld from the public and the residents of High River? How will anyone ever know if the paper is held as a state secret?” wrote Young.

Young had also written letters last summer to Premier Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking that privilege be waived after having petitioned the previous Progressive Conservative and NDP governments.

An earlier review conducted by Alberta Justice concluded last month that a search for documents on the case had been reasonably completed, but that Young’s request for other files “would be more properly addressed in an inquiry.”

In 2015, an RCMP watchdog concluded that while officers had the authority to seize the firearms, they failed to report their actions to a judge.

The inquiry will consist of written submissions made to the commissioner or an adjudicator and will end with an order being issued.