Via EMAIL
May 27, 2013
Brent Merchant
Assistant Deputy Minister of Corrections
PO Box 9278 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9J7
brent.merchant@gov.bc.ca
Re: Policy regarding off-duty speech by Corrections Branch employees
Dear Mr. Merchant,
The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) was contacted by Mr. Rick Maddocks, an employee of the Corrections Branch currently on leave. He has shared with us a letter, dated May 14, 2012, that he received after he notified his employer that he wished to participate in Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)’s Speakers Bureau program. In this letter, Regional Director Simon Glen informed Mr. Maddocks that “participating as a ‘speaker’ for LEAP would constitute a conflict of interested [sic.] and therefore would not be in adherence with our Standards of Conduct.”
We are greatly concerned to learn that the Corrections Branch Standards of Conduct preclude Corrections Branch employees from participating in LEAP. We believe that this is an unduly punitive and anti - free speech position without justification. It is our understanding that both the Vancouver and Victoria Police Departments are tolerant of the rights of their officers to speak publicly in their personal capacity on matters of drug policy, and we see no principled grounds that would justify the Corrections Branch taking a different approach.
In 2007, Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officer John McKay criticized the four pillar approach to drug policy in Vancouver in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, calling it “a failed social experiment.” At the time the VPD supported, and still currently supports, the four pillar approach. No action, that the BCCLA is aware of, was initiated against Mr. McKay’s public comments.
In 2008, Pivot Legal Society filed a complaint against VPD officer Mark Steinkampf for criticizing the Insite safe injection site in the media, contrary to VPD policy, while in uniform and on duty. The complaint resulted in the following finding by a VPD senior management investigator in a letter dated September 4, 2009:
. . . Sergeant Steinkampf’s expression of what were clearly
personal views did not constitute a disciplinary default
under the Police Act . . . there are many examples of members
publicly expressing opinions at variance with VPD policy.
The BCCLA holds that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms obliges police departments and other law enforcement bodies such as the Corrections Branch to come to the same conclusion as was reached in the Steinkampf complaint, insofar as that complaint result relates to Mr. Steinkampf’s off duty comments on drug policy.
Where an off-duty communication by an individual is a critique or endorsement of government or department policy, and it is not stated or implied in that communication that the individual is unable or unwilling to enforce the law impartially and according to his or her statutory and professional duties, it is inappropriate for a public body to interfere with that communication. We urge you to develop policy that encompasses the Branch’s Charter obligations and privileges the free speech of members while off duty.
We look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Sincerely,
Josh Paterson, Executive Director
CC:
Via MAIL
Simon Glen
A/Regional Director
Corrections Branch, Community & Corporate Programs Division
Vancouver Regional Office
401 - 4603 Kingsway
Burnaby BC V5H 4M4
Via EMAIL:
Carol Graham, Public Service Agency (PSA) Representative
carol.graham@gov.bc.ca
