By Greg Fry

Former Kamloops Mountie says charges should have been laid against RCMP after N.B. shooting rampage

Jan 26, 2018 | 9:11 AM

KAMLOOPS — A fine is not enough.

That’s the reaction of former Kamloops RCMP officer and media spokesperson for the Mounted Police Professional Association Rob Creasser to news the RCMP will be fined $550,000 for Labour Code violations following the shooting rampage in New Brunswick four years ago that left three Mounties dead and two injured. The decision was rendered Friday in a New Brunswick court room.

“We were actually pushing for Criminal Code charges of criminal negligence causing death with relation to our Commissioner’s role (Bob Paulson) in this whole incident,” Creasser says. “And maybe that’s what it’s going to take that people actually look at jail time for not doing the right thing. Maybe that’s what it will take to change things.”

Creasser says it’s also problematic that it’s actually not the RCMP who will end up paying the fine; it’s the Canadian taxpayer.

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“The people in Moncton were paying for a police service already that they now know was not properly equipped or trained. So again, especially the people of Moncton are victims twice in this because now they get to pay on top of supposedly paying for a properly equipped and trained police force they get to pay a fine that says their police force wasn’t properly equipped and trained.”

What does Creasser make of the fact the RCMP has acted on 56 of 64 recommenations contained in a report of the incident?

“They were caught basically with their pants down with this incident in Moncton and they need to try and catch up. But going forward there has be enough money to do the training and to do the equipping of police to protect the Canadian public and this federal government and previous federal governments haven’t seen that as a priority and they need to.”

Constables Doug Larche, Fabrice Gevaudan and Dave Ross were killed and constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were injured when gunman Justin Bourque went on a murderous rampage in a Moncton neighbhourhood.

Bourque pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 75 years.