Update: The final review was released on Feb. 24, 2026. 

This report reviews the progress of an Agreement between the Vancouver Police Board (VPB), the Johnson family (who were directly impacted by actions of the Vancouver Police), and the Heiltsuk Nation to address systemic anti-Indigenous racism in policing. The findings underscore the need for improved relationship and collaboration between the parties involved, and the need to respect Heiltsuk law. 

The Agreement was struck in 2022 to settle a human rights complaint filed by Maxwell Johnson on behalf of himself and his granddaughter, after Vancouver police wrongfully handcuffed the pair without first looking into the allegation made against them. As part of the settlement, all parties agreed to collaborate on a series of steps to address systemic issues in the Vancouver Police Department—and to have Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender act as an independent third-party reviewer of their efforts to do so. 

The Commissioner is mandated to promote and protect human rights in British Columbia and addresses systemic discrimination through activities such as inquiries, education and interventions.  In this case, the Commissioner was asked by the parties to provide third-party review of the systemic elements of the agreement stemming from this particular incident. This is the first time the Commissioner has provided third-party review of a human rights settlement agreement. 

More resources

• Press release: Commissioner says Settlement Agreement between Johnson family and the Vancouver Police still has potential to dismantle racism in policing (February 24, 2026)
• Press release: Vancouver police, Johnson family and Heiltsuk Nation should collaborate to realize the promise of systemic racism settlement: Human Rights Commissioner (March 6, 2024) 
• Press release: B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner will audit the implementation of settlement agreement between Vancouver Police Board and Heiltsuk grandfather and granddaughter with critical human rights implications (September 2022) 
• Report: Equity is safer: Human rights considerations for policing reform in British Columbia (November 2021)