In August, we reported that the OPP was investigating allegations of obstruction of justice brought by four members of the YVR-4, a unit that responded to a disturbance call in Vancouver in 2007. This week, investigators were in BC conducting interviews with a number of people as they try and make a determination. One of the folks interviewed was Shirley Hefe, the former Director of the RCMP Civilian Review Board. Also, Brenda Butterworth Carr resigned as the Director of Police Services for the Province of BC.
00:00:00.000We first told you in August about the OPP conducting a criminal investigation into senior
00:00:10.280members of the RCMP on allegations of obstruction of justice brought by two of the four members of
00:00:16.940the YVR-4 who attended the YVR International's arrival area in October of 2007 to respond to
00:00:24.420a disturbance call. They were confronted with an out-of-control Polish traveler Robert Zakansky1.00
00:00:30.600and a taser was deployed. Zakansky ultimately died from the interaction. This week OPP investigators
00:00:39.580were in BC conducting interviews with a number of people as they try and unravel the allegations
00:00:45.860to make a determination. One of the folks interviewed was Shirley Hefe, the former director of the RCMP
00:00:53.080Civilian Review Board. Hefe spent five years in that role fighting with the RCMP and learned
00:01:00.060at first hand the frustrations trying to get information out of that moribundant secretive
00:01:06.100organization. What became clear to her was the lengths the RCMP as an organization would go
00:01:14.100to obstruct her investigations as she tried to respond to complaints. Hefe's interview lasted0.70
00:01:20.640for two and a half hours with the OPP. Also this week we learned of the resignation of Brenda
00:01:27.540Butterworth Carr as the director of police services for the province of BC. Butterworth Carr had not
00:01:34.420been in the job for long. She only had been in the position for less than two years. She took the job
00:01:40.560after retiring as the deputy commissioner of the RCMP responsible for E Division, BC, the West and the North Coast
00:01:48.160area. Butterworth Carr, in her letter of resignation, cited all the usual platitudes. The minister she reported to, Mike Farnworth,
00:01:58.160also mused about his own resignation in the same week. To be fair, Farnworth has been in office for more than 25 years.
00:02:06.160The timing, however, is what is suspicious. The Vancouver Sun tried to write the resignation off as driven by a photo
00:02:16.160that was published of a member of the newly formed Surrey Police Board who posed with members of the Hells Angels.
00:02:23.160As distasteful and stupid as that was, it is not a reason for Butterworth Carr to resign.
00:02:29.160Normally, it would require she demand the resignation of the police board member and move on. But resign?1.00
00:02:38.160No, there's much more to all of this than meets the eye.
00:02:42.160If we look at the OPP investigation, dubbed Project Eastbourne, the timeline primarily goes back to when the two YVR members
00:02:51.160who leveled the allegations of obstruction of justice began trying to pry documents they knew would exonerate them from the RCMP and the obstruction started.
00:03:02.160Cooperation was virtually non-existent. The members, Constable Jerry Rundle, a still serving member,
00:03:10.160and Corporal Monty Robinson, retired, began their fight for documents from the RCMP in 2013.
00:03:18.160The Deputy Commissioner responsible for the RCMP in BC at the time was Brenda Butterworth Carr.
00:03:25.160She remained in that position for several more years, and looking at the allegations being investigated by the OPP,
00:03:32.160she certainly has the most exposure. Others have exposure as well, but none as much as Butterworth Carr.
00:03:40.160It is not known at this point if the OPP tried to interview her when they were here on the west coast,
00:03:46.160which may have precipitated her resignation from government. We can speculate ad infinitum, but we cannot know for sure at this point.
00:03:56.160What is clear is that the OPP investigation has ramped up and has zeroed in on several targets.
00:04:04.160One can only assume that Butterworth Carr is one of them.