Nunavut RCMP say man charged in 1986 death of girl served time for two other murders

VANCOUVER – The BC Prosecution Service says it has approved a charge against a Vancouver police officer over a collision with a pedestrian in 2023.

The service says Sgt. William Briscoe faces a charge under the Motor Vehicle Act of “driving without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway,” after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a report into the crash.

The Independent Investigations Office said last October that it was investigating after a woman was injured in a collision involving a Vancouver Police Department vehicle that was on its way to call in the evening hours of Sept. 29, 2023.

The office said at the time that the woman declined treatment from emergency responders on the scene, but the police department reported to the office that her injury may constitute “serious harm” under the provincial Police Act.

The police watchdog’s report said there were reasonable grounds to believe the officer may have committed an offence in relation to use of his police vehicle, and it forwarded its report to the prosecution service for consideration of charges.

The prosecution service says in a statement issued Friday that the charge against Briscoe was signed off on by an experienced Crown counsel who has no connection with the officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

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RED DEER, Alta. – Alberta’s government is getting pushback from some municipal leaders and support from others over its plan to build the sheriffs into a second provincial police service.

At the Alberta Municipalities convention in Red Deer on Friday, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis got an earful from Coun. Ed Cole with the Village of Alix.

“To be blunt, when are we going to put this Alberta provincial police to rest? Eight in 10 Albertans want to keep the RCMP,” he said.

“We can’t afford this. Let’s put the money back into the RCMP budget where it belongs,” said Cole.

His comments were met with enthusiastic cheers and applause from about 1,000 attendees.

It comes as the province works to expand the role of the sheriffs, and after Premier Danielle Smith said it’s looking to open up new local detachments and expand training.

The government also plans to establish regional policing committees, raising questions about who will have policing authority in smaller municipalities.

Ellis said it’s unacceptable that calls to the police aren’t being answered quickly enough, especially in rural areas.

“I am trying to get officers on the street. The independent policing service that is being created is being done because there has been an enormous request, from not just municipalities, but from jurisdictions across Alberta,” he said.

He said the sheriffs are meant to augment and support other police services, but the RCMP is 400 officers short, a number the Mounties disputed Friday.

Ellis said if communities want to stick with their RCMP contract, he respects that, but communities that want other services should be respected, too.

“I’m trying to empower you,” he said to a round of applause.

RCMP say they have a total of 1,772 police officer positions in Alberta under the provincial contract and 306, or 17 per cent, of those are vacant. Of the vacancies, 124 are unfilled while the rest are officers on leave, including sick and maternity leave.

Alberta Municipalities president Tyler Gandam, who is the mayor of the city of Wetaskiwin, said he supports the expanded role of the Alberta Sheriffs.

“Any chance that we get to increase safety for our residents across the province is a good thing, without a doubt,” he said.

Speaking to reporters, Cole said the province doesn’t have the resources, including appropriate training centres, for sheriffs. He said he wants the province to be more transparent about potential costs.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Thursday he’s hearing from municipal leaders that they’re confused about the province’s policing plan.

“Taking on an Alberta provincial police force and starting from scratch is the height of financial lunacy. It’ll just cost so much money and it’s not at all clear that it will solve any of the problems,” Nenshi said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Suncor Energy has been fined $90,000 after pleading guilty to two charges stemming from a worker injury in 2019 aboard its production vessel in an oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland.

In a news release Thursday, the province’s offshore oil regular said the company must also give $20,000 to the College of the North Atlantic’s health and safety management program.

The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board says Calgary-based Suncor pleaded guilty on Sept. 5 for failing to ensure the safety of its employees and failing to ensure its employees wore a safety harness attached to a lifeline while inside a confined space.

The board says a worker fell 7.6 metres from a safety ladder while testing for hydrogen sulfide in a ballast tank on the floating production and storage vessel in the Terra Nova offshore oilfield.

An agreed statement of facts says two emergency response workers then went into the tank to tend to the fallen man, and they were not wearing gas masks.

Suncor Energy is the majority owner of the Terra Nova oilfield, and it reported net earnings of $1.57 billion in the second quarter of this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.