Did social media prompt IIO? RCMP oversight body investigating fatal Boxing Day MVI in Chilliwack, yet police say they weren't involved
Readers will be surprised to learn how many cases investigated by the former head of IIO over seven years resulted in criminal convictions
The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) announced on Jan. 2, 2026 that the police oversight body is investigating the fatal motor vehicle incident on Boxing Day in Chilliwack.
Shortly after 10:15 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2025, a white Ford pickup truck driven by a man from Chilliwack was involved in a single-vehicle collision with a BC Hydro pole near the intersection of Yale and Banford roads, according to the release issued by the IIO. Residents in the area will have noticed a temporary power outage. Paramedics and the fire department attended the scene, but the man was pronounced deceased.
Six days before that, on Dec. 27, 2025, one day after the incident, the Chilliwack RCMP issued a similar statement.
"Chilliwack RCMP are investigating a fatal collision involving a single vehicle that occurred on Dec. 26, 2025, at approximately 10:22 pm at the intersection of Yale Road and Banford Road," the news release began.
"A 27-year-old male from Chilliwack was the lone occupant and lost control striking a power pole. While alcohol is not believed to be a factor in this accident, speed may be a contributing factor."
What neither the Chilliwack RCMP even alluded to nor did the IIO allege, except in a circuitous or suggestive way, is that the 27-year-old in the white pickup truck was fleeing police.
"The RCMP reported no police involvement with the pickup truck prior to the collision and the IIO was not notified at the time," according to the Jan. 2 IIO release.
So if the Chilliwack RCMP position is that it wasn't a police chase that led to the death, why is the IIO involved now?
"As a result of information received from the public on Dec. 29, the IIO is now investigating the incident and the circumstances that led up to the collision."
The IIO statement doesn't directly allude to what information they might have received from the public three days later nor does it hint at the alleged circumstances that led up to the collision. Since the IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of officers and detention guards in British Columbia in charge of investigating all incidents involving those peace officers that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing, there is only one conclusion to draw: The public reported to the IIO that it was a police chase that led to the MVI, and the IIO will investigate if it was indeed called off as is required by law.
But who is reporting to the IIO? How many people in B.C. even know the IIO exists, let alone what their legislative mandate is, let alone if they are or are not part of RCMP's 'E' division, let alone how to get in touch?
Facebook beware-type groups lit up with opinions and allegations, as always happens when anything worthy of sharing online occurs.
"Yeah, cops are trying to cover up the chase that truck flew by our place cop seconds behind it then heard the crash," one person posted on Facebook.
"This is very sad as it is . . . didn’t lots of [people] say it was a police chase but others were saying otherwise? Was it caused by the chase?" another asked.
So was it a police chase or not and were social media comments enough to prompt the investigation? Sounds like the answer is "yes."
What does the law say?
RCMP and all peace officers in B.C. are subject to the Emergency Vehicle Driving Regulation (EVDR), which is part of the Motor Vehicle Act. First of all, the EVDR states that a "pursuit" is defined "the driving of an emergency vehicle by a peace officer while exercising the privileges granted by section 122 (1) of the Motor Vehicle Act for the purpose of apprehending another person who refuses to stop as directed by a peace officer and attempts to evade apprehension."
For obvious safety reasons, an officer can only engage in or continue a pursuit if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe two things:
• the driver has committed (or is about to commit) an offence; and
• the seriousness of that offence and the need for immediate apprehension outweigh the risk to public safety that the pursuit itself creates.
So for example, if an officer spots a known offender dealing drugs on a street corner, let's say right where the fatal MVI in question took place, at Yale and Banford, the officer might turn on his or her lights and siren to stop the alleged offender. If that driver took off, the officer would give chase at least very briefly while he or she make a few very quick yet critical assessments:
• If the driver headed east on Yale or south on Banford, both rural areas of mostly farm properties, the officer might pursue at speed for some distance.
• If it was a school day at this location where Cheam Elementary is located, the officer should stop pursuit immediately for safety reasons.
• If the offending driver headed west on Yale Road, he/she would pretty quickly approach into the residential area to the east of Downtown Chilliwack, and the officer would want to cease pursuit pretty quickly.
That's a made-up example of why an officer would give chase and some theoretical outcomes based on the law. But essentially, officers have to be constantly thinking about whether continuing a chase makes sense in real-world safety terms. If the potential harm to bystanders, other drivers, pedestrians, the officer, or the person being chased outweighs the benefit of catching the suspect immediately, the pursuit should be terminated.
A critical element of this that muddies the water and almost certainly has muddied many investigations such as this, is what the alleged offender does after a police officer turns his or her lights and siren off and abandons a pursuit. Ideally, the point of calling off the pursuit is for safety reasons so the person fleeing would stop driving like a maniac. If, however, the driver doesn't realize the pursuit ended or is too high, drunk, or otherwise jacked up to care, he or she might keep racing through neighourhoods, the danger to the public still intact if reduced by the presence of a second vehicle, the police.
So, what now? There are two factors that the IIO considers at the beginning of each investigation:
1. If there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death; and
2. If there is a connection between the serious harm/death and officer action or inaction.
If both conditions are met, the investigation will continue to examine all available evidence to determine what occurred. At the conclusion of the investigation, the chief civilian director will consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence may have occurred.
Do officers get charged, convicted?
What then happens to an RCMP officer deemed to have been responsible or at least connected to the serious harm or death of a civilian by officer actions or inactions?
If however you don't trust cops or police behaviour in general, or if you have a strong sense that officers of the law should be held to account when they engage in wrongdoing even when conducting their difficult jobs, you won't like the answer.
If, however, you totally or generally or even mostly support the work of police officers on the front lines who deal with safety and security and crime while subject to intense scrutiny and legal oversight every day, you will like the answer.
The director of the IIO for seven years, Ron MacDonald – who is not the famous fast-food clown – said when he retired in mid-2024 that he oversaw 1,196 investigations in his seven years. A lawyer by training, he said that in the previous five years, he referred 39 cases to the Public Prosecution Service recommending criminal charge approval. Assuming about the same number of cases per year, five years is about 854 cases, that's less than five per cent of officers who were investigated by the IIO that MacDonald believed should face charges. Of those 39, Crown counsel approved charges in 18 cases, about a 46 per cent charge rate.
How many of those 18 officers charged, two per cent of those investigated, were convicted in court? Zero.
With that being said, the IIO asks that any witnesses with information about the fatal MVI on Yale Road near Banford Road on Dec. 26, 2025 contact the IIO at the toll-free witness line at 1-855-446-8477 or via a contact form on the iiobc.ca website.
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Paul J. Henderson
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