An RCMP adjudicator has found three B.C constables failed to treat people with respect and courtesy when they posted racist, sexist and homophobic comments in a group chat with other officers and on police computer terminals.
Louise Morel found Coquitlam constables Mersad Mesbah, Ian Solven and Philip Dick violated the RCMP code and displayed discreditable conduct by posting the comments, but dismissed other allegations related to workplace harassment.
Lawyers will meet next week to discuss next steps, which could include the officers being dismissed.
Morel says the officers’ claims that the posts were made out of frustration, dark humour or sarcasm does not absolve them, noting that police are held to a higher standard than the general public.
She says she’s confident a reasonable person in society would find the comments not only discourteous and disrespectful, but also discreditable and that posting them in chats “could reasonably be inferred” to decrease public confidence in the RCMP.
Morel says she will release a longer written decision later.
For nearly three hours on Friday, Morel went through various messages which she referred to as racist, sexist and homophobic.
“I fail to see how a reasonable person in society would find comments about a vulnerable female being raped by five dudes, referring to an RCMP unit as the penis-touching team, or a victim of a criminal sexual assault as a dumb girl, can be acceptable professional or even excusable,” she said when discussing allegations against Solven.
In Dick’s case, messages referred to “the big turban man” or “the useless short tubby Asian,” she said.
In the case of Mesbah she referenced messages referring to others as “retarded.”
She said aspects of the messages “showed a mindset” that questioned the public’s right to be treated fairly and equally.
“I find that the messages are clearly racist, sexist and homophobic, given the insulting nature related to a person’s race, colour, ethnic origin, sex or sexual orientation,” she said.
“I find that a reasonable person in society with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances, including the realities of policing in general and the RCMP in particular, would consider the conduct to be discreditable.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2025
Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
