REGINA — The Opposition New Democrats are calling for accountability from the government on why a provincial marshal resigned following a Public Complaints Commission investigation.
NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer demanded answers after the information and privacy commissioner conducted a review of the matter.
This followed an access to information request submitted by the NDP a number of months ago asking for the total number of misconduct allegations and investigations regarding the Saskatchewan Marshals’ Service. Sarauer said their main focus was on the provincial marshal who had quit his job, noting that details of the complaint and the outcome of that investigation “have never been made public by the government.”
What the Opposition received, according to the Privacy Commissioner’s report, were heavily redacted records.
In a report released March 17, the Privacy Commissioner recommended the head of the Marshals’ Service reconsider its discretion and release records on misconduct allegations involving the Saskatchewan Marshals’ Service. The decision pointed to several media reports about the case and to the public’s right to know.
Sarauer pointed out that the Privacy Commissioner “noted that 290 pages of material that were released were heavily blacked out, while another 93 pages were withheld entirely.”
She said her party is “demanding the unfiltered release of the records as indicated in the Privacy Commissioner’s report.”
Sarauer also said she was putting the Minister of Community Safety Michael Weger “on notice” that “he will be asked about the apparent cover-up in Question Period Monday if he does not step in and compel the release of the records by noon on Monday.”
“If there's nothing to hide, why the secrecy? Why the redactions? Why the silence? The culture of secrecy starts at the top. Saskatchewan people deserve transparency in their policing forces.”
Police misconduct allegations have made news in the province in the past several months, with the Regina Police Service in particular having to contend with high-profile incidents involving its own officers and even its former chief of police being investigated and found to have committed misconduct.
Sarauer noted the difference in this case is that this was a conduct investigation that occurred before there were even actual boots on the ground for the Marshals’ Service.
“The Marshals weren't actually doing frontline services when this complaint happened. So it really leads the question as, what actually happened here? What could the marshal have done that have resulted in such a serious allegation being made before they were even conducting services with the public?”
Her other concern was the “lack of transparency.” Sarauer said of other misconduct allegations that a lot of details are known “because other policing bodies have an obligation or a duty to be transparent about that.”
“This Sask Party government feels like they should be different and their Marshals should be different than other policing bodies.”
Sarauer voiced frustration over what she saw, accusing the government of “essentially stonewalling anybody who's asked any questions about what happened, what the Marshal did, what sort of hiring practices is the Marshal Service conducting, and whether or not any changes have been made since this Marshal quit.”
She added that the people she hears from who are the most frustrated are other police officers.
“They're very frustrated that the Sask Party government refuses to provide any transparency about what happened here.”
Sarauer also acknowledged that while the Privacy Commissioner is able to make reports and recommendations, they do not have order-making powers and “cannot compel a government to release those records.”
“That's why we're coming out today and calling on the government, putting them on notice that they need to comply with the recommendations in the Privacy Commissioner’s report. And we're not going to stop asking questions about this if they continue to stonewall, because the public has a right to know.”
In a brief statement in response to the NDP news conference, the government said the following about the Freedom of Information request:
“Decisions regarding Freedom of Information access requests are made internally by the permanent head of the organizations involved in the request, without the involvement of the elected. In this case it would be the Chief Marshal of the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.”
