Where do the provincial parties in British Columbia stand on disbanding the RCMP C-IRG?

Published by Brent Patterson on October 2, 2024October 2, 2024

Photo: B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Party Leader John Rustad, B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

The provincial election in British Columbia will take place on October 19, 2024.

CBC News has just posted an article How do British Columbia’s three main parties compare on these election issues? Those three main parties are identified by CBC News as the B.C. Conservatives, B.C. NDP and B.C. Green Party.

For a full list of registered political parties in BC, click here.

While it does not appear that the Conservatives or NDP have released their full election platforms, the Greens did so on October 1.

On page 58, the BC Greens 2024 platform says: “The BC Greens will disband CIRG, the Community Industry Response Group, a branch of the RCMP tasked with protecting industrial interests at the expense of public and Indigenous rights. This group has caused significant harm to police-community relationships and must be dismantled to rebuild trust.”

When the Conservatives and NDP post their platforms, we will update this online article with any pledges they make with respect to the C-IRG.

We do note at this time though that in March 2023, The Tyee reported: “A portion of the $230 million promised last fall by the BC NDP to bolster rural police detachments and make communities safer is earmarked for a controversial RCMP unit tasked with policing resource industry protests, The Tyee has learned.”

338 Canada is currently projecting that the NDP will win 35 to 59 seats, the Conservatives 35 to 55 seats, and the Greens 0 to 2 seats. Their website further projects the seat count will be NDP: 48, Conservatives: 44 and Greens: 1.

47 seats are needed to form a majority government.

We continue to follow this.