Subhead:The RCMP’s top officer in New Brunswick in 2021 filed a complaint accusing authorities of unlawfully collecting personal information and monitoring “citizens who express discontent” with government policy.#
The former head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in New Brunswick formally challenged a covert provincial surveillance operation during the pandemic, warning in 2021 that residents’ privacy and civil liberties were being compromised.
Larry Tremblay, then the RCMP’s top officer in the province, filed a complaint with the provincial ombud accusing a branch of the Department of Public Safety of unlawfully collecting personal information and monitoring “citizens who express discontent” with government policy. His complaint targeted activities run through the little-known Office of the Provincial Security Adviser under the government of then-premier Blaine Higgs.
According to Tremblay’s complaint, officials tracked residents’ movement between New Brunswick health zones from January to May 2021, during one of the most restrictive periods of the pandemic. The information was compiled into daily briefings for the premier and senior officials under the title Trend Tracker: Mobility by Zone. The province had recently tightened travel rules and warned it would get tougher on people not following restrictions.
