In 2021, the New Brunswick government had a plan to scoop up your personal information from
911 emergency calls. A plan that raised concerns here at J Division. The
headquarters of the RCMP in New Brunswick. Larry Tremblay was the top Mountie at the time,
but was on his way out because of differences with the Higgs government over policing.
Tremblay sent this complaint to New Brunswick's Ombud saying that if the RCMP were
part of the 9/11 plan, it would be breaching privacy laws and violating charter rights.
According to Tremblay, the plan would see calls to 911 routed through a third party call
handling system so the province could gather information from those calls, including names
and addresses. Tremblay said the province had no legal authority to do that, and the
RCMP would have to set up its own 911 call handling system rather than be part of what he
called a direct violation of the law. New Brunswickers who see government as too
intrusive say they're not surprised. The fact that they Even feel
comfortable. And doing that is really problematic, I would say. The plan came under
the Office of the provincial Security Advisor, a part of the Department of Public Safety run
by this civil servant, Andrew Easton. People are always glad when I come in a room because
I'm there to fix a problem. They're even happier to see me leave, uh, because I'm only
there on the baddest of days, it feels like. It appears the RCMP got its way. The Mounties
and the Department of Public Safety both say they were able to agree on a call handling
system that lets the RCMP meet its privacy obligations. According to the
province, to address RCMP concerns, the system will include separate data repositories
so the RCMP can maintain control and disclosure over its own data.