In-custody death renews call for RCMP oversight

The federal New Democrats are again calling for the creation of a civilian watchdog agencyto overseethe RCMP in light of the death of a Yukon man in custody nearly two years ago.

British Columbia NDP MP Nathan Cullen, who introduced a private member's bill last year proposing an independentRCMP watchdog, said the in-custody death of Raymond Silverfox in 2008 shows that police should not bepolicing police.

Cullen's bill proposes the creation of an independent civilian agency that would investigate deaths or serious injuries that occur to people in RCMP custody.

"Families have come forward in the most perfectly clear way: they're just looking for justice," Cullen told reporters Tuesday in Ottawa.

"It's not an issue of revenge. This is just purely an issue of justice."

Was mocked, neglected in cells

Silverfox, a 43-year-old First Nations man from Carmacks, Yukon, died after he was kept inthe Whitehorse RCMP detachment's drunk tank forabout13 hours on Dec. 2, 2008.

A Yukon coroner's inquest in April heard that RCMP officers and detachment guards on duty that day did not seek medical attention for Silverfox during that time, even though he was vomiting profusely.

Some officers and guards even mocked and jeered at Silverfox as he lay in a pool of his own vomit and feces, the inquest heard. He was eventually taken to hospital, where he died that evening.

"My dad did not deserve the treatment he received in his last 13 hours of his life," Deanna Lee Charlie, Silverfox's daughter, told reporters.

"He was a human being, a proud First Nations man. He was my father."

MP supports call for inquiry

Silverfox's family has asked the Yukon Supreme Court to review the findings of the coroner's inquest, which concluded that Silverfox died of natural causes.

Cullen added his voice to a growingnumber of people and groups, including the Assembly of First Nations,supporting the family's demand for a full public inquiry into Silverfox's death.

"It was only through a public inquiry that we're able to properly understand what was happening and what happened to Mr. Dziekanski," Cullen said, referring to Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who died after RCMP officers used a Taser on him at the Vancouver airport in 2007.

"It seems to me that the only thing that we're going to have to bring satisfaction is to have a similar inquiry."

The Yukon government has not ruled out the possibility of a public inquiry. Last month, Premier Dennis Fentie said his government is waiting for Crown prosecutors to finish reviewing material from the coroner's inquest.

Also last month, Yukon RCMP commanding Supt. Peter Clark apologized for what he described as the "insensitive and callous treatment" Silverfox had endured in custody.

Clark indicated that five RCMP membersare facing internal code of conduct investigations related to Silverfox's death.

'Nobody left resisting' bill: Cullen

Cullen saidnot much has happened with his private member's bill sinceit was introduced in the House of Commons in November 2009, although henoted that the Liberals and the Bloc Qubcois support it.

"We think the public are onside, we know the RCMP are onside, the auditor general, the police complaints [commission] there's nobody left resisting this," Cullen said.

"At some point the government's got to pick up the mantle and run with it."

Cullen said an independent RCMP watchdog agency would be similar to Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, which oversees the provincial police force there.

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, an existing independent agency created by Parliament, is not given the "teeth" to conduct investigations and bring in experts, Cullen said.

'Extra emphasis' in North: Hanson

In February, RCMP Commissioner William Elliott announced that the RCMPwillhave independent agencies investigate cases where the force is involved in the serious injury or death of an individual, or if an RCMP employee is suspected of contravening the Criminal Code.

More recently, after details of Silverfox's death surfaced at the coroner's inquest, the RCMP and the Yukon government created a task force toreview policing in the territory.

Yukon NDP leader Elizabeth Hanson said while the policing review will help the RCMP rebuild relations with Yukoners, it will not address the specific circumstances surrounding Silverfox's death or determine what consequences, if any, the RCMP officers and detachment guards involved should face.

Given the central role the RCMP has in northern communities, Hanson said there is an "extra emphasis on the need for members of the RCMP to be not only seen to uphold the values of the RCMP but to be able to demonstrate that in every way."