Table of Contents

IX. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES

One of the major concerns of the complainants was that they wanted to know who gave the order to intervene in Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Simon. Many of the complainants firmly believe that the New Brunswick government representatives at the time and Royal Canadian Mounted Police management, decided jointly to call in the RCMP Special Unit. In support of their conclusion, the complainants referred to the decision made by then Education Minister James Lockyer to postpone the 25^th of April meeting that was to be held with members of the La Découverte Save-Our-School Committee to May 2, 1997.

The evidence obtained clearly shows that the RCMP management was not involved in any way in the decision-making process with respect to closing the schools. This was a matter of provincial jurisdiction solely under the authority of the Department of Education.

The evidence also shows that RCMP management acted as mediators on two occasions, (April 4 and April 18, 1997) to keep dialogue open between the provincial authorities and the parents' representatives. The RCMP was pro-active in its attempts to defuse the crisis and in its attempts to get the parties to agree to a negotiated solution.

The fact that there were regular discussions between provincial representatives and RCMP management is to be expected. It is worth recalling that the RCMP in New Brunswick is contracted by the province to provide police services. It is therefore appropriate that the government authorities be informed of the services that this police force provides to its citizens. Article 4 of the "Provincial Police Services Agreement"³¹⁸ between New Brunswick and the federal government provides useful information about this matter:

Article 4.0 The commanding officer and the operation of the Division

4.1 For the purpose of this Agreement, the Commanding Officer shall act under the direction of the Minister in aiding the administration of justice in the Province and in carrying into effect the laws in force therein.

4.2 The Commanding Officer shall:

a) implement the objectives, priorities and goals as determined by the Minister under sub article 3.3, including, to the extent practicable, the deployment of the Provincial Police Service personnel and equipment to reflect provincial priorities;

b) consult with the Minister on a regular basis to provide information pertaining to the operational and administrative status of the Provincial Police Services, such consultation shall occur as and when required but in no case on less than a quarterly basis and, with respect to the financial reporting required by paragraph 15.1(f), on a monthly basis;

c) provide the Minister with an annual report, by July 1 of each year, on the status of the implementation of the Province's objectives, priorities and goals of policing within the Province during the previous Fiscal Year;

d) in a reasonable and timely way, provide the Minister or the Attorney General with any information that comes into the possession of any Member employed in the Province and which affects the administration of justice in the Province. The information shall be provided in a manner and in a form to be agreed upon by the Commanding Officer and the Minister or Attorney General; and

e) provide the Minister each month with the particulars of any new or outstanding complaints made against the Service by any member of the public to the Force. The form and substance of the particulars shall be agreed upon by the Commanding Officer and the Minister.

On May 1, 1997, Staff Sergeant Castonguay became aware of the Minister of Education's final decision. The evidence clearly shows that it was Staff Sergeant Castonguay, in consultation with Superintendent Séguin, who made the decision to mobilize the RCMP Special Unit. The reasons for this decision are discussed in Chapter V of this report.

Lastly, the decisions to deploy the RCMP Special Unit, on May 2, 1997 in Saint-Sauveur and on May 4 in Saint-Simon, were also police decisions. There is no evidence to indicate that the Minister of Education or any other provincial government representative played a direct role in these decisions to call in the special unit. When asked about what influence members of the government may have had on the decision to send the RCMP Special Unit to the site on May 2 and 4 1997, Staff Sergeant Charles Castonguay said categorically that it was the unlawful behaviour of the demonstrators that made the decision necessary, not pressure of any kind by a minister or any other representative of the provincial government.³¹⁹ Chief Superintendent Séguin also broached the topic when he explained the obligations that stem from the police services contract mentioned above.

I guess one of the things that - as part of my role, my job is to keep Police Services informed of issues that the Minister should know about.

[.]

It's that we are responsible for police operations and do not take any direction in regards to operations.

So our role is simply to inform Police Services so that - or - or the Minister directly if necessary of what's taking place strictly for the Minister's information.

So there was never - and I want to make it very clear - never any - any direction from Government as to the deployment of the troop. That is an operational decision and it was taken strictly here at "J" Division, based on the information we had at the time.³²⁰

Tension in the communities of Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Simon was at its highest following the events of May 2 and 4 1997. Not only had the people of these communities lost their schools, they were shaken by the police intervention. Following the negotiations held on May 4 in Saint-Sauveur, Staff Sergeant Castonguay and the parents' representatives succeeded in taking stock of the situation and restoring some degree of dialogue.

In the year following the events in Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Simon, the parents' representatives and certain community agencies asked the Government of New Brunswick to conduct a public inquiry into the events that led to the intervention by the RCMP Special Units.