Most Canadian jurisdictions choose former prosecutors to watch the police, said Roach, a prominent University of Toronto law professor. Ten days ago, two more cases came in, one from St. John’s, N.L., and a second in Nova Scotia, alleging sexual assault by an RCMP officer, swiftly exhausting the resources of his four-person unit. “The Serious Incident Response Team (in Nova Scotia) looks like it will only deal with physical injuries. … It probably will be no more effective than the Special Investigations Unit in Ontario — that is, not very effective at all as a review mechanism,” Sewell wrote in an email. However, in an interview, Justice Minister Andrew Parsons said no decisions have been taken yet on whether his province will create its own team or link to the Nova Scotia agency.

Source: National Post April 25, 2018 15:22 UTC