VICTORIA –  New Democrat MLAs Rachna Singh, Garry Begg, Nicholas Simons and Bowinn Ma have been named as members of the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act.

Yesterday, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced the formation of the Special Committee, which will conduct a wide-ranging review of B.C.’s Police Act. The all-party committee will engage with communities and experts, and provide recommendations on how the 45-year-old Police Act can be modernized to reflect today’s challenges and needs with respect to mental health, harm reduction and systemic racism.

“The review of the Police Act is timely and important work, and will allow us to apply a contemporary lens to a 45-year-old document,” said Rachna Singh, MLA for Surrey-Green Timbers. “The committee will explore the role of police in our society, and explore how to address the challenges and opportunities currently facing our communities, and our police.”

The review of the Police Act will be another step taken by the New Democrat government to address racism in British Columbia. Other initiatives include the re-instatement of the BC Human Rights Commission, the establishment of the Resilience BC anti-racism network, and the move toward gathering race-based data in BC.