Former Saskatoon cops fired after off-duty party won’t be getting their jobs back

Former police officers Dylan Kemp (left) and Jason Garland (right) co-host a podcast, discussing men’s mental health challenges. (Source: YouTube)

A Saskatoon judge has rejected the appeal of two former police officers seeking to get their jobs back after being fired over their conduct at an off-duty party.

Former constables Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland were terminated on Sept. 3. Their lawyer, Steve Seiferling, filed an appeal eight days later.

The two officers expected to present their case to the Saskatchewan Police Commission, the provincial oversight body. But Seiferling sent the appeal only to the Saskatoon Police Service and the Saskatoon Police Association — their former employer and union — meaning they missed the 30-day deadline to challenge their terminations.

They turned to the Court of King’s Bench, arguing before Justice Natasha Crooks, in part, that the Police Act didn’t specify consequences for missing the appeal deadline and that the court should adopt a flexible approach.

Crooks rejected their argument in a decision released last week.

“Counsel for the applicants points to the absence of specifically identified consequences for non-compliance,” Crooks wrote. “However, courts have articulated those consequences — with clarity — in jurisprudence.”

She cited a decision by former Chief Justice Robert Richards, writing: “The decisions of this court establish that … a litigant’s right to appeal expires if it is not brought within the appeal period.”

Under the Police Act, only the justice minister can designate a hearing officer for the fired officers, and the act does not allow for extending the time limit or changing how an appeal is initiated.

“This court cannot order the minister to act outside of the limitations of their statutory authority,” Crooks wrote.

With no remaining avenues of appeal, Kemp and Garland’s days with the Saskatoon Police Service are officially over.

-With files from Laura Woodward