Investigator escalates Fort Smith man's complaint against N.W.T. RCMP alleging excessive force

An RCMP unit in Alberta in charge of investigating a public complaint about four officers in Fort Smith, N.W.T., is escalating the complaint to allow for possible disciplinary action — including opening the door for criminal charges — rather than remedial changes to policy or training. 

In April, Kelly Canadian lodged a public complaint against four officers, alleging they used excessive force against him. He says it happened in an altercation while he was being held at the Fort Smith detachment earlier this year for failing to appear in court. The incident left Canadian with fractured vertebrae, according to hospital recordings included in court documents. 

In November, Canadian received a letter notifying him that the Alberta unit investigating his complaint will do so under the Criminal Code. CBC has seen a copy of the letter.

A spokesperson for the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the RCMP says that allows the investigators to charge the officers rather than just recommend they take more training, for example.  

Kate McDerby is the director of strategic communications and outreach with CRCC, an independent agency that reviews complaints against RCMP. 

She said she couldn't comment on the specific case, but said the description sounds like an escalation. 

"If the complaint you're talking about is an allegation of excessive use of force and the RCMP have deemed that they're going to look at it under another [piece of legislation], that means that the RCMP are concerned with it," she said. 

"They don't think it's an excessive use of force complaint that could be dealt with through the public complaint process and offer additional training, operational guidance or that remedial set of steps that the public complaint process was envisioned to provide."

CRCC's most recent public data is from the 2021/22 fiscal year. In that year, there were 24 allegations of improper use of force in the N.W.T.

McDerby said escalating allegations is not necessarily common.

Twenty-one of those 24 allegations of improper use of force in 2021/22 were deemed unsubstantiated by RCMP. 

All public complaints first go through the RCMP. If the complainant isn't satisfied with the results, they can then request a review from the CRCC. 

The N.W.T. RCMP declined to comment since the investigation is ongoing.