OTTAWA – A Canada-U.S. initiative to create new cross-border law-enforcement teams has been postponed due to lingering concerns about how to deal with police officers accused of breaking the law.
The RCMP says the so-called next-generation border project has been put off as discussions continue with U.S. officials.
The initiative — part of the 2011 Canada-U.S. perimeter security pact — would see the two countries build on joint border-policing efforts by creating integrated teams in areas such as intelligence and criminal investigations.
Two pilot projects were supposed to get underway by summer 2012.
But in 2013, it emerged that the effort was being held up by the difficult question of which country’s legal system would apply if a police officer were accused of breaking the law.
An RCMP briefing note, obtained under the Access to Information Act, stresses the Mounties should stick to their position that officers from Canada and the U.S. be treated equally under a common criminal liability regime.
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