House of Commons BACKGROUND GUIDE Vancouver Model United Nations The Twentieth Annual Session | January 29–31, 2021 Dear Members of Parliament, William Tsai Secretary-General Welcome to the VMUN 2021 Canadian House of Commons! My name is Cynthia Gan, and it is my pleasure to serve as your Speaker this year. Starting my own Model UN journey as a shy—and somewhat terrified—delegate in this very Vivian Gu committee, I have since seen myself, and those around me, grow in various aspects since Director-General that first raised placard and nerve-wracking speech. As MPs, you will be delving into the world of party politics and tackling the topic of Police and RCMP Reform—one that is Derek Wu particularly relevant, perhaps, now more than ever. You will each have a uniquely crucial Chief of Staff role to play in this committee, based on your party, the constituency you represent, and your portfolio. Tyler Rosenzweig Director of Logistics In order to uphold fruitful and productive committee sessions, it is expected of MPs to prepare and research thoroughly on both the topic at hand, as well as your own relevant stances before the conference. Please feel free to refer to the following resources in your preparation process: this Background Guide on the topic of Police and RCMP Reform, Joyce Chen the Private Members’ Resolution (PMR) Guide, and the committee Standing Orders, all USG General Assemblies of which can be found on VMUN’s website. The parliamentary procedures will be reviewed and clarified during the first committee session as well, so we encourage you not Ethan Jasny to feel intimidated by any unfamiliarity. In addition, we highly recommend that you USG Specialized Agencies immerse yourself in in-depth research leading up to the conference and assure you that the more you invest in this unique and rewarding experience, the more you will ultimately Vivian Liang walk away with. USG Conference Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out at [email protected]. Jonah Ezekiel USG Finance I look forward to meeting you all at VMUN 2021! Laura Choi Sincerely, USG Communications Cynthia Gan Armaan Jaffer HOC Speaker USG Delegate Affairs Mia Tsao USG Delegate Affairs Police and RCMP Reform ............................................................................................................ 2 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Timeline ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Historical Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 4 Development of Police Forces and the RCMP ...............................................................................................4 Indigenous Relations .........................................................................................................................................6 Regulation and Accountability ........................................................................................................................6 Current Situation ................................................................................................................................... 7 Operations, Regulation, and Accountability ..................................................................................................7 Minorities and Race-Based Violence ..............................................................................................................8 Police Funding ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Possible Solutions and Controversies ................................................................................................ 10 Increasing Transparency Through Race-Based Data ................................................................................ 10 Specialization and Differentiation of Roles ................................................................................................. 11 Community Policing Model .......................................................................................................................... 11 Budget Reductions .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Increasing Diversity Within the Police Force ............................................................................................. 12 Body-Worn Cameras ..................................................................................................................................... 12 Bloc Positions........................................................................................................................................ 12 Liberal Party .................................................................................................................................................... 12 Conservative Party .......................................................................................................................................... 13 New Democratic Party ................................................................................................................................... 13 Green Party ...................................................................................................................................................... 14 Bloc Québécois ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Discussion Questions ........................................................................................................................... 14 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 15 Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 1 Police and RCMP Reform Overview While policing in Canada was originally rooted in maintaining order during the country’s early days of colonization, both the responsibilities of police, as well as the context surrounding their role in society have changed significantly over time. In Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) serves primarily to enforce laws created by Parliament across the nation and provide active policing to all provinces and territories— except Ontario and Quebec, which operate their own provincial police forces. 1 In general, Canada has maintained relatively low rates of crime over the past few decades, consistently ranking within the world’s top ten safest countries according to the Global Peace Index.2 However, even with constantly evolving police policies, contemporary policing in Canada continues to bear many shortcomings, which have become the subject of increasing controversy.3 Most notably, main areas of contention surround the issues of federal and provincial police budgets and the regulation of use of force, especially with regards to racialized targeting of Black and Indigenous individuals in Canada. Both in light of recent developments in the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement, as well as increasing scrutiny of public expenditures following the 2008 economic crisis, there has been gradual but steady pressure on the issue of police budget cuts, with social justice groups greatly influencing changes to budgeting.4 While there is no way to empirically prove an ideal police budget, several studies have found that there is no correlation between increased police spending and any decrease in violent crime rates.5 Over CAD 15 billion was spent by the federal government on police expenditures in the years 2017 and 2018 alone, much more than other government services, such as public transportation—where a total of CAD 3.4 billion was spent over the course of three years from 2016 to 2019.6 Members of Parliament (MPs) should note that increasing public criticism on these topics has clashed with the rising costs of policing in recent years. One of the most prominent issues that officials in Canada face when investigating racialized targeting in the police force is a lack of race-based data; while the RCMP keeps a database on officers’ use of force, this data does not include race. 7 Consequently, analysis on racial criminal justice issues, such as the over-incarceration of 1 “The Law on Police Use of Force Worldwide,” Policing Law, August 2019, https://www.policinglaw.info/country/canada. 2 Institute for Economics and Peace, “Global Peace Index 2019,” Vision of Humanity, 2019, http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2019/06/GPI-2019-web003.pdf. 3 “The History of Policing in Canada,” WLU, August 13, 2019, https://online.wlu.ca/news/2019/08/13/history-policing- canada#:~:text=Canada's%20Frontier%20and%20the%20North%2DWest%20Mounted%20Police&text=Fearing%20that%20Amer ican%20deaths%20might,enforce%20laws%20in%20the%20region. 4 Ibid. 5 Alexandra Kanik, “The reality of US city budgets: Police funding eclipses most other agencies,” CityMetric, 2020, https://www.citymetric.com/politics/reality-us-city-budgets-police-funding-eclipses-most-other-agencies-5186. 6 Government of Canada, “Public Transit Infrastructure,” Infrastructure Canada, 2019, https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/pti- itc-eng.html. 7 Justin Ling, “Reforms