Update on the status of C-IRG-related public complaints and reviews (as of September 30, 2024)

Public Complaints about the RCMP "E" Division Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG)^{Footnote *}

Between 2019 and 2022, the CRCC received 573 public complaints related to the RCMP's enforcement of civil injunctions in British Columbia associated with:

• Coastal GasLink pipeline project on Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory
• Teal Cedar Products Limited logging operation in the Fairy Creek Watershed
• Cooper Creek Cedar Limited logging operation in Argenta-Johnson's Landing

Breakdown of Public Complaints Received

Table 1: Number of complaints received in relation to the RCMP's enforcement operations at the three sites.

	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing	Total
Public Complaints Received	302	267	4	573
Public Complaints Accepted	5	114	2	121
Public Complaints Refused	297	153	2	452

While the CRCC received 573 public complaints, only 121 met the complaint criteria laid out in section 45.53 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. Of note, most of the refused complaints were from individuals who were not physically present at the three sites.

For more information regarding the CRCC's complaint intake process, and the reasons a complaint may be refused, please consult our Complaint and Review Process page.

Public Complaint Investigations

Table 2: Public complaint investigations as of September 30, 2024.

	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
Total Public Complaints Accepted	5	114	2
RCMP Public Complaint Investigations Completed	5	88	2
RCMP Public Complaint Investigations Ongoing	0	26	0

For more information on how the CRCC handles public complaints and the public complaint investigation process, please consult our Complaint and Review Process Flowchart.

Allegation Outcomes and Disposition Types

Complaints can be resolved as follows:

• investigated by the RCMP
• terminated by the RCMP
• withdrawn by the complainant
• informally resolved

Breakdown of Allegation Outcomes

Table 3(a): Breakdown of allegation outcomes for concluded complaints related to the three sites.

Disposition Type	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
Investigated by the RCMP	22	368	6
Terminated by the RCMP	1	55	1
Withdrawn by the complainant	12	2	0
Informally resolved	0	0	4
TOTAL	35	425	11

Notes:

• In a formal investigation, the RCMP investigates the public complaint and provides the individual with a final report.
• A public complaint may contain multiple allegations, each of which has its own outcome. As such, totals from the allegation outcomes may be higher than the total number of concluded complaints.

Breakdown of Supported and Unsupported Allegations

Table 3(b): Breakdown of allegations that were supported or unsupported by the RCMP, following a formal investigation.

	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
Investigated by the RCMP Allegations Total	22	368	6
Supported	0	42	0
Unsupported	22	326	6

Average Length of RCMP Investigations

Table 4: Average number of business days it took the RCMP to conclude a public complaint, broken down by disposition type. The RCMP's internal service standard to conclude a public complaint is 120 days.

Disposition Type	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
Terminated by the RCMP	138	422	280
Investigated by the RCMP	266	379	280
Informally resolved	N/A	N/A	370
Withdrawn by the complainant	48	59	N/A

Allegation Categories

Table 5: Top five allegation categories for complaints related to the RCMP's enforcement at the three sites, in descending order.

	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
1	Neglect of Duty (12)	Neglect of Duty (133)	Neglect of Duty (6)
2	Oppressive Conduct (7)	Improper Use of Force (92)	Improper Arrest (3)
3	Mishandling of Property (5)	Policy (59)	Improper Attitude (1) / Oppressive Conduct (1)
4	Improper Attitude (4)	Improper Attitude (55)	N/A
5	Improper Use of Force (3) / Irregularity in Procedure (3)	Improper Arrest (37)	N/A

For more information about the allegations categories, please consult our Complaint Allegation Types page.

CRCC Reviews

• Following the RCMP's investigation of a public complaint, if the person is not satisfied with how the RCMP concluded their complaint, the legislation allows them to refer their complaint to the CRCC for review
• In addition to the three review files that have been completed, three other review files are currently awaiting a response from the RCMP Commissioner

Number of Requests for Review Received

Table 6: Number of requests for review that the CRCC received in relation to the three sites.

	Wet'suwet'en Traditional Territory	Fairy Creek Watershed	Argenta-Johnson's Landing
Total Review Requests Received by the CRCC	1	12	0
Total Reviews Completed by the CRCC	0	3	N/A

For more information regarding the CRCC's review process, please consult our Complaint and Review Process page.

CRCC Recommendations

Table 7: Number of recommendations made by the CRCC in relation to completed review files as of September 30, 2024.

	# of Recommendations	Proportion
Total Recommendations	15	-
Recommendations Supported by the RCMP	8	53%
Not Supported by the RCMP	3	20%
Partially Supported by the RCMP	4	27%

Summaries regarding the outcome of the reviewed complaints may be found in our Summaries of Reviewed Public Complaints page.

Note: The CRCC's systemic investigation does not replace the public complaint and review processes. These processes are separate, though findings and outcomes from one process may inform the other.

For more information about the intersection between the systemic investigation and public complaints process, please see the C-IRG Quick Facts page.

Please consult the Complaint and Review Process page for more information.