During the all-candidates meeting in Evergreen Theatre at Powell River Recreation Complex on October 7, the four individuals vying to represent the Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding as MLA were asked the following question regarding police accountability by audience member Roger Whittaker:
“If your party is in power and a citizen of British Columbia finds themselves in an altercation with police, not of their own doing, but they die during that altercation, and the coroner deems it a homicide, do you think your attorney general would have the backbone to remove those officers from the streets and charge them with the homicide the coroner found it to be?”
The candidates were allotted one minute each to answer the question. Here are the responses:
Randene Neill (BC NDP)
You're talking about Myles Gray, a [Sechelt] business owner who just went to deliver his floral delivery in Burnaby in August of 2015. He wandered away from his delivery truck and less than an hour later, he was dead.
Seven police officers killed him. Charges were never laid against the officers. They still haven't been laid and the investigation office has declined again for a second time, even after a coroner's jury ruled his death a homicide, not to press charges.
It's the attorney general in this case, and this is what we need to do, is we need to hire independent prosecutions so they are at arm's length from Vancouver Police, to be able to prosecute the police.
The police officers in that case were told by their union not to take notes. That is another egregious thing that the union should be censored for as well. Myles should never, ever, ever have died.
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Chris Hergesheimer (Green Party of BC)
I would absolutely hope so. There's a fine balance between policing and community safety and the laws that are meant to protect everyone. And there have been many historical examples of injustice played out, and we need to make sure that those perpetrators, whether lawmakers or not, are respected under the same laws as average citizens.
So we need to ensure that there is the backbone to prosecute when necessary, while respecting the valuable role that our police officers and law enforcement do play in the community and the safety of this province.
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Greg Reid (Independent)
I completely agree with what Chris [Hergesheimer] and Randene have said. I have nothing more to add.
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Chris Moore (Conservative Party of BC)
Myles Gray, from Sechelt, I think his family lived on the highway. I've seen the truck a lot and the story. It breaks everybody's heart, including mine.
Over the years, I have seen that form of injustice. I've experienced it, actually, in some aspects.
There should be a full accounting, and we should be fearless in being able to take the perpetrators of that forward, right, in terms of full transparency?
So I would be looking at full transparency and full exposure to the process for the general public, so the public is satisfied at the end of the day, because that has not happened in this case.
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