Bill S-223, An Act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, proposes changes to the existing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. Its stated goal is to include certain First Nation laws in the duties of RCMP members who are peace officers. The changes are proposed, not in force; the supplied material does not give a start date.
It defines “First Nation law” to include bylaws made under the Indian Act; laws defined in the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management Act; and laws made by an authorized First Nation body under a self-government agreement implemented by a federal Act.
RCMP members who are peace officers would have duties relating to preventing offences against those First Nation laws, as part of their listed peace-officer duties. Those duties remain subject to the Commissioner’s orders.
Members would have a duty to execute warrants, and perform related duties, where First Nation laws allow peace officers to lawfully do so.
The bill does not create a new agency or a process for requesting RCMP assistance.
RCMP members who are peace officers: Their listed duties would expressly include the relevant First Nation laws. The warrant duty applies only where the warrant and related duties may lawfully be carried out by peace officers, and remains subject to the Commissioner’s orders.
First Nations and their governments: The bill names certain First Nation laws, but does not set out how a First Nation would ask the RCMP to act or how responsibilities would be coordinated.
People subject to those laws: The bill would not itself create First Nation laws or make an otherwise unlawful warrant lawful. It changes the duties listed in the RCMP Act; the supplied text does not describe other changes to individual rights or penalties.
The bill does not set out a process, timelines, or decision rules for how RCMP members would carry out the added duties.
It does not explain how the RCMP and First Nation governments would coordinate, or what happens if they disagree.
The supplied material does not give a start date.
The source provides the existing wording of the affected RCMP Act provisions, but not the full Act or the laws and agreements used to define “First Nation law.” Their full interaction cannot be checked from the supplied material.
The bill appears intended to make clear that RCMP peace-officer duties include preventing offences against specified First Nation laws and executing warrants that peace officers may lawfully execute under those laws.
A possible argument for the bill is that naming these laws in the RCMP Act could clarify the RCMP’s duties without creating a separate police organization.
The bill limits the warrant duty to warrants and related duties that peace officers may lawfully carry out.
One concern is that the bill adds duties without explaining how they would be carried out or coordinated with First Nation governments.
The bill gives no information about the resources needed to carry out the added duties, so their cost is unclear.
The definition covers several kinds of First Nation laws, but the supplied text does not explain how the duties would apply in practice across those different legal arrangements.