Photo: PBI-Canada on Wet’suwet’en territory, November 20, 2021, just after the November 18-19, 2021, RCMP raid on the territory.
With the appointment of Brent Cotter as the interim Chairperson of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC), a long-awaited report on the systemic investigation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) is expected to be released before October 15, 2026.
In an emailed response, the CRCC tells PBI-Canada: “The Interim Chairperson is expected to make a decision on the report and provide it to the Minister of Public Safety and the RCMP Commissioner.”
They add: “In accordance with the CRCC-RCMP MOU, the Commissioner may provide a response to the CRCC with respect to any finding, recommendation and comment contained in said Report within 60 days. Following the 60-day waiting period, the CRCC can/will make the report public.”
Given this 60-day window, the report is not expected to be made public before July 6, 2026. And given it is not public information when the report is sent to the RCMP commissioner, we anticipate the report within the broad timeframe of early-July (at the very earliest) to mid-October 2026 (at the very latest).
RCMP surveillance
Additionally, the CRCC systemic investigation is expected to include a review of the RCMP’s implementation of past recommendations, including several related to their surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities during National Energy Board hearings on the Northern Gateway pipeline in 2012-13.
In late-April 2026, The Tyee reported that a freedom of information request found that “CRU-BC Intel” is “actively monitoring opposition” to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, as well as “anticipated protest activity” that an RCMP spokesperson says “has come to our attention through open source intelligence monitoring” that, according to the RCMP in an internal document, includes “online activity”.
Journalist Amanda Follett Hosgood explains in her article: “The Critical Incident Secretariat [has] a biweekly meeting that brings together several provincial ministries, resource sector regulators and a controversial RCMP protest-policing unit called the Critical Response Unit — British Columbia, also known as CRU-BC.”
CRU-BC is the rebranded name of the C-IRG.
Investigation launched in March 2023
The systemic investigation into C-IRG activities and operations was launched on March 9, 2023, by Michelaine Lahaie, who was then the Chairperson of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC).
The CRCC systemic investigation promised a detailed examination of RCMP procedures, a review to see C-IRG guidelines are consistent the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, if C-IRG operations are carried out in accordance with legal standards, and, where appropriate, if C-IRG actions are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The systemic investigation was to specifically look into C-IRG operations in three sites, including its actions on Wet’suwet’en territory in response to Indigenous land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
The report outlining the investigative findings by the CRCC was completed by March 18, 2026. The term of the CRCC interim chairperson began about a month ago on April 15, 2026. If the interim chairperson sits with the report for an additional month, the report could be made public in mid-August.
Peace Brigades International-Canada has followed this CRCC systemic investigation since it was launched.
