Thoughts on BC Politics and More

... Save Our Streets is organizing the event at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue. Organizers say the event is sold out, but are offering a live-stream. In less than two years, the volunteer organization founded in October 2023 has emerged as one of the most visible advocacy groups for public safety. The day-long event features five panels featuring a who's-who of experts. Scheduled panelists include former BC attorney general Wally Oppal and BC Crown Counsel Association President Adam Dalrymple; the police chiefs of Vancouver and Surrey, as well as the head of the BC RCMP; and top medical professionals, including a senior figure from the Red Fish Healing Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, a facility often cited for its exemplary recovery model. Conservative Party of BC Leader John Rustad and Marshall Smith, a political consultant and former chief of staff to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are scheduled to deliver keynote lectures ... CLICK HERE ...

In the wake of several high-profile police drug seizures of suspected safer supply that put the BC NDP government on the defensive last month, BC RCMP “E” division issued a gag order on detachments, directing them to run all communications on “hot button” public safety issues through headquarters in the lead-up to the provincial election. “It is very clear we are in a pre-election time period and the topic of ‘public safety’ is very much an issue that governments and voters are discussing,” writes a senior RCMP communications official in an email dated Mar. 11 in what appears to have gone out to all BC RCMP detachments . . . . CLICK HERE for the full story

An expanded Vancouver Island major crime unit is needed as communities grow and serious crime increases, local mayors say. Sooke Mayor Maia Tait and Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog both welcome an initiative of B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth to examine the expansion of the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime unit to all Island communities. Farnworth has directed the province’s policing and security branch to work with the B.C. RCMP on the issue. He has written to 22 Island municipalities, First Nations and police forces inviting them to participate in preliminary consultations ... CLICK HERE for the full story

To encourage more people with knowledge of murders, drug trafficking and other gang-led crimes to share details with police, British Columbia is proposing a stronger witness security management and support program. “ People with intimate details of the most serious crimes, or the activities of gangs and organized crime on our streets, should not feel their life will be in danger if they do the right thing and tell police ,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.  “ We’re taking action now to help ensure the co-operation of witnesses with new measures that build on federal witness protection. To combat gun and gang violence, what is required is a multi-pronged approach, which is what we are working on and this proposed legislation supports that .” Most organized crime cases in BC hinge on testimony from an accused person’s former accomplices and informants. However, the application process for the federal program can lead to d...