Former Victoria police chief Jamie Graham and Insp. Jamie Pearce have been removed from a human rights complaint filed by an officer who says he was discriminated against based on his political views.

Const. David Bratzer, an outspoken advocate for drug legalization, filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal last year saying the department’s senior management, including Graham and Pearce, warned him not to speak about drug legalization while off-duty. Bratzer is the president of the Canadian branch of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international organization of current and former law-enforcement officials pushing for full legalization and regulation of drugs.

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Bratzer specifically named Graham and Pearce in addition to the department because he said they “attempted to seize control of his private life” and, therefore, stepped beyond their bounds of an employer’s scope.

The tribunal decided Graham and Pearce should be removed as respondents because they were acting in the course of their duty on behalf of the police department.

“I find that Chief Graham and Const. Pearce were acting within the scope of their managerial authority on behalf of the VicPD,” tribunal member Robert Blasina wrote.

Graham has since retired and Pearce is no longer Bratzer’s direct supervisor.

The complaint against Victoria police still stands and is still being deliberated by the tribunal.

Bratzer’s complaint stemmed from the way the department responded to his participation in LEAP. When Bratzer joined the organization in 2008, he assured his superiors that the role was voluntary and if he participated in any public speaking, he would make clear the views were personal and that he was not representing the Victoria Police Department.

Bratzer was barred from participating in a panel discussion on harm reduction at Victoria City Hall in February 2010, ordered not to comment publicly on Washington state’s referendum on marijuana legalization and repeatedly reminded that Graham disapproved of his actions.

The complaint also named Insp. Pearce, who sent Bratzer a letter on Sept. 27, 2012, which said he must get permission from his supervisor before making any public statements “contrary to positions that the executive of the board of the Victoria Police Department is taking, or is reasonably expected to take on behalf of the department.”

Bratzer would not comment on the decision to remove Graham and Pearce from the complaint.

Diane Goldstein, a board member with LEAP, said “no matter whether the respondents were individually removed, this case is still really a support of David’s right to express his free speech.

“The right to hold and express our own political opinion is really one of the most important rights that Canadians and Americans can have,” Goldstein said.

U.S.-based LEAP has about 5,000 members, including current and former police officers, judges, prosecutors, corrections officers, border guards and former Drug Enforcement Agency officers.

Blasina said “there is no dispute” that Victoria police continues to restrict Bratzer’s activity as a member of LEAP but the tribunal will have to decide if this restriction is a violation of Bratzer’s human rights. A date for the hearing has not been set.

kderosa@timescolonist.com