The deadline for a provincial report into possible changes to the B.C. Police Act has been extended by nearly a year, to 2022.
A special committee made up of MLAs is currently reviewing the 1996 act with plans to update how police forces respond to mental health and substance use calls, as well as investigate systemic racism within B.C. RCMP and municipal departments.
The original deadline for the report was May 14, but that’s been pushed back to April 28, 2022, according to the Parliamentary Committees Office.
The office said all committees end when an election is called. A new committee was formed following the October 2020 election, and with it came a new deadline to report to the Legislative Assembly.
Calls for change within the provincial justice system erupted last year during Black Lives Matter protests.
Twenty per cent of complaints against police in B.C. in 2019-2020 came from Black, Indigenous and Middle Eastern peoples, even though those groups only account for eight per cent of the provincial population.
READ MORE:
• B.C. families push for changes as special committee examines provincial Police Act
• West Kootenay People for Racial Justice invited to consult on Police Act review
• Cut police, build affordable housing instead, says B.C. human rights commissioner
@tyler_harper | tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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