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Kash Heed

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Kash Heed
Richmond City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
2022
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Vancouver-Fraserview
In office
May 12, 2009 – May 13, 2013
Preceded byWally Oppal
Succeeded bySuzanne Anton
Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia
In office
May 4, 2010 – May 5, 2010
PremierGordon Campbell
Preceded byMichael de Jong
Succeeded byMichael de Jong
In office
June 10, 2009 – April 9, 2010
Preceded byRich Coleman
Succeeded byMichael de Jong
Personal details
BornNovember 1955 (age 68)[1]
Political partyRichmond Rise
Other political
affiliations		BC Liberal
Residence(s)Richmond, British Columbia
OccupationPolice officer

Kash Heed (born November 1955) is a Canadian politician and former police officer. Since 2022, Heed has been a member of Richmond City Council. He previously served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview from 2009 to 2013. A member of the BC Liberal Party, from 2009 to 2010 he was the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General in the Campbell ministry.

Before entering politics, he served on the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), reaching the rank of superintendent. He then served as chief constable of the West Vancouver Police Department from 2007 to 2009, becoming the first Indo-Canadian police chief in Canada.[2]

Policing

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A resident of Richmond, British Columbia since 1965,[3] Heed graduated from the B.C. Police Academy in 1979 and began his career as an officer with the VPD. As an inspector he was commander of District 3, which corresponds to the southeast quadrant of Vancouver; he was in charge of the south part of Vancouver after becoming superintendent. Other roles in his career with the VPD have included heading the drug squad and Indo-Canadian gang task force, as well as implementing the department's COMPSTAT information technology system.[4]

In June 2007 he lost out to Deputy Chief Jim Chu for the position of Chief Constable of the VPD, but days later was appointed to that title in West Vancouver.[2] He led the West Vancouver Police Department for 19 months before resigning on February 23, 2009.[5] During his time as Chief Constable, Heed advocated the creation of a regional police force to fight gang crime.[6]

He is a published author who also teaches criminology and criminal justice at two B.C. colleges.

Provincial politics

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On April 8, 2009, Heed announced he would run for the BC Liberal Party in the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview in that year's provincial election; he was called a star candidate for the party.[7][8] During his campaign, Heed used photos of himself wearing a police uniform in his campaign materials; his main opponent, Gabriel Yiu of the New Democratic Party (NDP), suggested that was improper.[9] Heed defeated Yiu by 748 votes to become the riding's member of the Legislative Assembly,[10][11] and was appointed to the B.C. cabinet as Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General on June 10, 2009.[4][12] His responsibilities under this portfolio included crime prevention, law enforcement, victim services, road safety and emergency preparedness.

Heed resigned his ministerial post on April 9, 2010 in response to an unspecified Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation regarding violations of the Elections Act involving his campaign office, becoming the third consecutive solicitor-general to step down in a 25-month period.[12][13][14] The investigation revealed that his campaign team distributed unregistered brochures targeting the NDP, but special prosecutor Terry Robertson exonerated Heed of involvement, and he returned to cabinet on May 4, 2010.[12][15] Less than 24 hours later, the special prosecutor himself resigned when it was discovered that the law firm he came from had made financial contributions to the election campaign of Heed's party, the Liberals. Heed once again stepped down pending a more detailed probe into the case.[12][15]

The distribution of the unregistered brochures brought Heed's campaign above the spending limit; he admitted to exceeding the limit by $5,579, but denied knowing of it at the time. The court revised the overspent amount to $4,000, and Heed was fined $8,000 (twice the overspend), but was allowed to keep his seat in the legislature and cleared of criminal wrongdoing.[16] He did not run for re-election in 2013.[17]

Radio broadcasting

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In 2016, Heed started as the morning talk show host for 107.7 Pulse FM, a new English-language radio station based in Surrey; he left the station in February 2017.[18][19]

Heed was critical of the handling of the escape of Robbie Alkhalil from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre, saying on 26 July 2022: "I have never in my 32 years in policing, and my time since policing, seen such an inept investigation on a suspected murderer that has escaped from one of our secure institutions. I visited that institution, you just have to look at the incredible surveillance system that they have there, the quality of that system, and how could you not have images of individuals that assisted in that escape not available to the public. But you have photos taken off the internet, that are not even them, that you publish as accomplices to the escape? For you to get into the facility or anywhere near where some of the prisoners would be, especially some of these high risk prisoners, you will have gone through several surveillance systems or you ought to have gone through several surveillance systems, which would have captured your image. Alkhalil obviously had a well-planned escape plan, and who knows where he is right now, whether he is sitting low and waiting for things to calm down, or he's already made his way to another country. Will we ever know? I'm not sure. But do we have confidence that the investigation will lead us or give us the answers? No, I don't have the confidence in it."[20]

Municipal politics

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Heed announced in August 2022 that he was standing for a seat on the Richmond City Council in that year's municipal elections. His bid was supported by councillor Derek Dang, and the two formed a joint slate as Richmond Rise; Heed also mulled standing for mayor in the future.[21] On October 15, 2022, Heed was elected to council, taking the last of eight seats.[22]

In February 2024, Heed put forth a motion alongside Councillor Laura Gillanders to consider implementing a supervised consumption site at Richmond Hospital. The proposal drew backlash from the community, with over 16,000 signing a petition against the construction of a consumption site.[23] The motion passed by a margin of 7–2;[24] however, Mayor Malcolm Brodie said that the city would not seek approval for a site.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Political Kash?: High-profile VPD inspector approached about running- -for somebody: [Final Edition] Howell, Mike. Vancouver Courier [Vancouver, B.C] 22 May 2005: 19.
  2. ^ a b "Heed heads west, makes history". Vancouver Courier. July 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2007.
  3. ^ "Richmond's 2022 councillor candidates, in their own words". Richmond Sentinel. September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "MLA: Kash Heed". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013.
  5. ^ "Kash Heed resigns as West Vancouver Police Chief". CKWX. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  6. ^ "Outspoken West Vancouver police chief quits, citing personal reasons". CBC News. February 23, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "Heed to carry Liberal banner in provincial election". CBC News. April 8, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  8. ^ Loy, Irwin (April 8, 2009). "Heed this: Cop Kash running with Campbell". The Tyee. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  9. ^ Pablo, Carlito (May 7, 2009). "Use of uniform in campaign riles Gabriel Yiu". Georgia Straight. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Statement of Votes: 39th Provincial General Election: May 12, 2009" (PDF). Elections BC. January 15, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  11. ^ Bolan, Kim; Sinoski, Kelly (May 11, 2009). "B.C. election results: Vancouver". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d "Campbell Cabinet: 37th Parliament 2001-2005, 38th Parliament 2005-2009, 39th Parliament 2009-2011" (PDF). Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Bailey, Ian; Hume, Mark (August 23, 2012). "B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed resigns". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013.
  14. ^ Bolan, Kim; Ward, Doug; Fowlie, Jonathan; Culbert, Lori (April 10, 2010). "Election probe at centre of resignation". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010.
  15. ^ a b "B.C. solicitor general Heed resigns again". CBC News. May 5, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "Kash Heed fined for election violations". CBC News. August 31, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  17. ^ "Another Liberal MLA not running in 2013". CKWX. June 30, 2012. Archived from the original on July 3, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  18. ^ Mackin, Bob (February 20, 2017). "Pulse prematurely drops Kash, after ex-Liberal cabmin books guests critical of B.C. government". The Breaker. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  19. ^ "Revolving Door". Broadcast Dialogue. February 23, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  20. ^ Mackin, Bob (July 26, 2022). "Full investigation of Rabih Alkhalil escape needed, say those familiar with North Fraser Pretrial Centre". BIV Business Intelligence for B.C. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  21. ^ Rantanen, Maria (August 24, 2022). "Former top cop vies for council seat, ponders future run for Richmond mayor's chair". Richmond News. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  22. ^ Rantanen, Maria (October 16, 2022). "Former solicitor general elected to Richmond city council". Richmond News. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  23. ^ Thayaparan, Arrthy (February 13, 2024). "Richmond council to vote on plan for supervised consumption site". CBC News. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  24. ^ McElroy, Justin (February 14, 2024). "Richmond drug consumption site motion causes confusion, commotion". CBC News. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  25. ^ "Richmond won't seek approval for drug consumption site: mayor". CBC News. February 27, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
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