A B.C. civil liberites group can pursue a judicial review of its complaint into the October 2005 death of a man shot in RCMP custody after an application to stop the investigation was quashed.

The Federal Court of Canada threw out the application to stop the review, which was made by Paul Kennedy, chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.

Ian Bush, 22, was shot and killed by an RCMP officer in October 2005 in Houston, B.C.
(CBC)

"This is an important victory that will let us challenge chairman Paul Kennedy's decision to let the RCMP off the hook," B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director Murray Mollard said Thursday.

"Our goal is to keep (the commission's) feet to the fire in ensuring thorough and timely civilian oversight of police," he said.

Bush, 22, was shot in the back of the head by Const. Paul Koester, a Mountie at the Houston, B.C. detachment, after being arrested for having an open beer outside a hockey arena.

Despite a coroner's inquest held in May and June, questions linger about the officer's version of the events and the police investigation that concluded no criminal charges would be laid against the officer.

The civil rights group had asked the commission to review the case but the RCMP terminated the association's complaint under the authority of the RCMP Act as "impracticable."

Kennedy supported that decision and initiated his own review a year ago but B.C. Civil Liberties Association president Jason Gratl said that process "hasn't resulted in anything," so his group asked the federal court to reverse the termination.

"The (public complaint) commissioner's refusal to deal with our complaint puts us out of the loop," he said, adding that their complaint was meant to pressure the commissioner into responding.

"We've had enough experience with this police complaints commissioner to know that unless somebody is behind him cracking the whip, not much will get done," said Gratl. "His treatment of his own complaint in the Ian Bush affair is a good example of the lack of action from that office."

Judicial review date to be set

Gratl said the association will now get a full hearing on its judicial review, although no date has been set.

"Now we find out what's in the commissioner's file," he said, which may include correspondence between the RCMP and the complaints commission.

Koester said at the inquest he was forced to shoot after Bush attacked him and began choking him in the detachment's interview room.

But testimony at the inquest by a police blood-spatter expert cast doubt on the officer's account.