The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is demanding the province release the findings of an audit into RCMP services, but the province's solicitor general says releasing the information could jeopardize the ongoing talks over a new contract for provincial policing.

The audit will eventually be released, but not until negotiations are over, Rich Coleman said Tuesday.

"It's in draft form so it's not completed yet," Coleman said.

'This is a multi-billion dollar, untendered contract. The secrecy around it is unacceptable.'—B.C. Civil Liberties Association president Robert Holmes

"Since we're the lead negotiators for the contract with the other provinces, and it's not in a final form, it hasn't been released yet. When it's in final form and it won't compromise any of the negotiations, we'll release it."

B.C. is in talks with the Mounties on a new 20-year policing contract to replace the current deal that expires in 2012.

"The province was wise to do an audit, but we're not sure why they'd keep the fact that they did an audit, as well as the audit results, secret," Robert Holmes, president of the civil liberties group, said in a news release.

"This is a multi-billion dollar, untendered contract. The secrecy around it is unacceptable."

But Coleman said conducting such an audit is routine policy aimed at understanding what subjects need to be discussed at the bargaining table.

Disagreement within government

Releasing it would compromise B.C.'s position, he maintained.

"We look at everything. We look at efficiencies, we look at fiscal stuff, we look at how a contract is working for other things. It's pretty much a review that we'd want to have that kind of information going into negotiations."

Holmes said the information should be made available before a deal is signed in order to ensure public confidence.

"Public confidence grows better in sunshine than in the dark. That applies to law enforcement as much as anything else," Holmes said.

The pending RCMP contract in B.C. has been the subject of debate within the Liberal government, with former solicitor general Kash Heed raising concerns a new deal would not hold the Mounties accountable to the communities they serve.

But B.C. Attorney General and former Solicitor General Mike de Jong has insisted accountability is a key part of the talks, saying he's looking for a "cultural shift" in attitude from the Mounties before agreeing to a new deal.