In its 2021 budget, the government of Saskatchewan announced that it was jumping on board with a civilian-led police watchdog; one of the last provinces in Canada to do so.

Putting $287,000 towards the effort to set up and operate the Strategic Incident Response Team (SIRT), the responsibility for building it would ultimately fall to the Public Complaints Commission.

The team would jump into action and investigate all matters where a person has suffered a sexual assault, serious injury, or death while in police custody or as a result of the actions of a police officer. In other words, any serious incident involving an officer would typically fall under the purview of SIRT.

While framing it, at least partially, as a measure to ease some of the workloads of other law enforcement agencies that are often asked to investigate such incidents in other jurisdictions, the more important aspect of the decision, according to Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant, is that the move offers a chance for the public to have more confidence in the integrity of those investigations.

"The Government of Saskatchewan understands the importance of transparent oversight of serious policing incidents," Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant said. "The proposed changes are the next step to enhancing police oversight and ensuring public trust."

As a part of that effort, the proposed amendments ensure that SIRT includes a requirement that a First Nations or Metis community liaison is appointed to a case if the victim is of First Nation or Metis ancestry.

Those appointed liaisons will assist the civilian Executive Director and perform a number of functions, such as coordinating and communicating with the families of victims and advising investigators on community interactions.

In the press release announcing SIRT, the government said that they are hoping to have an Executive Director in place by July 1, 2021, and are looking to be operational by the fall of this year, once staffing and training have been completed.