Esquimalt has bowed to pressure to release the RCMP and Victoria policing proposals, giving the public a glimpse of why council wanted to ditch VicPD for the Mounties and why the province rejected that plan.
At a committee of the whole meeting Monday night, council voted in favour of releasing the proposals within 30 days.
Coun. David Hodgins said the proposals should be released as soon as possible, and the RCMP proposal within the week.
"I believe in giving the information to the public now," Hodgins said. "I've been calling for that since November of last year."
Esquimalt has been stalling on releasing the information, even though weeks ago, it received the go-ahead from the RCMP and Victoria police to make it public.
In an RCMP letter on July 26, Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said Esquimalt can release the proposal "at your discretion" in consultation with the Ministry of Justice.
In a letter dated Aug. 2, the City of Victoria says it "does not object to the disclosure of the proposal. In fact, as you know, the Victoria city council has consistently been in favour of making this information public, subject only to withholding sensitive police operational information in the proposal." The only caveat raised is that the Victoria Police Board also has to approve the release.
However, Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said on Aug. 13 that the municipality could not release the proposals because it was "waiting for that response" from the police departments.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner is reviewing two Freedom of Information requests for these proposals, which Esquimalt turned down.
Victoria police Const. David Bratzer and the Times Colonist filed appeals on the basis that the release of the policing information is in the public interest.
Esquimalt has still not released the Police and Law Enforcement Advisory Board's report that outlined why it backed the Mounties over Victoria police. Justice Minister Shirley Bond rejected the RCMP option after a report by a mediator recommended Esquimalt and Victoria police work out their differences.
Esquimalt and Victoria police have had an acrimonious relationship since the forced merger of police forces in 2003.
