Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran apologized Friday for comments he made related to the actions of local RCMP and their handling of sex assault complaints in the Okanagan city.
Statistics Canada data reveals the Kelowna RCMP detachment dismissed sexual assault complaints at a rate of nearly 40 per cent, far above the provincial average of less than 15 per cent in 2018.
Speaking to the CBC on Wednesday, Basran defended the RCMP and said he believed all the complaints brought forward were properly investigated.
The mayor’s comment garnered online criticism.
“Basran is complicit in the ongoing RCMP denial of sexual assault, whether it is against their own members, or within a particular community. How can a mayor be so ignorant?” Deirdre David posted.
Jason Myers posted, “In other words if you’re a woman don’t move to Kelowna.”
Basran issued an apology on Friday, saying he was too quick to comment while a review of the Kelowna unfounded sex assault files for 2018 and 2019 is underway.
“I am sorry and offer my sincere apology to anyone offended or hurt by my initial reaction to this news,” Basran said in a statement issued by the City of Kelowna communications team. “The number of local sex assault complaints deemed to be unfounded is deeply concerning and I know the local detachment is taking this matter seriously.
“In retrospect, I should have waited for the results of an investigation into the matter before expressing my opinion.”
Basran also pledged the city would continue to uphold their responsibility to citizens in police matters moving forward.
“While the RCMP operates independently of the City of Kelowna, it is the City’s responsibility to ensure matters of concern to our citizens are being addressed. I have directed staff to stay in close contact with RCMP on this issue until a review is concluded.”
Further comment on the issue would wait until the completion of the internal and external review of the files by the RCMP’s Sexual Assault Review Team, he said.
Women’s advocate Jo Scofield called the Kelowna statistics appalling.
“It’s kind of infuriating and it really leads back into the reasons that people don’t report as well,” Scofield said following the release of the Stats Canada data on Nov. 10. “When you’re already aware that there’s a really good chance no one’s going to take you seriously, reliving all of that trauma is much more difficult.”
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