VANCOUVER - A few years ago, still mourning the death of her son at the hands of an RCMP officer, Linda Bush vowed to expose the failures of the national police force.
On Wednesday, she sat side-by-side with Mounties and announced that much has changed since her son was shot in the back of the head at the Houston, B.C., RCMP detachment, and she has abandoned a civil lawsuit against the force.
She said she now has "great expectations" they can work together to change the system.
"I don't really feel that I need to forgive the events of the past. What I need to do is concentrate on what's available, what their attitudes are in the future," she said at a joint news conference.
"I am much more comfortable with RCMP in general... I don't know if that's a form of forgiveness or just a form of acceptance and needing to just go ahead from there."
Ian Bush was 22 when he was arrested in October 2005 outside a hockey arena for having an open beer in public and giving the officer a false name.
According to testimony from the officer, Const. Paul Koester, the two scuffled while they were alone inside the detachment. Koester testified at a coroner's inquest that he acted in self-defence when he pulled the trigger.
The officer was cleared of wrongdoing by the inquest, an internal RCMP review and an inquiry by the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP.
But Linda Bush expressed dissatisfaction with those investigations, and made it her life's mission to ensure no family would have to endure the same painful experience.
She said Wednesday that she will continue to push for civilian investigation of in-custody deaths, but she has withdrawn the civil lawsuit. She has received no cash settlement, and said it was she who approached the RCMP with the change of course.
She said some people will be disappointed with her decision, but she did what she felt made the most sense.
"Nothing we can do will give Ian's life back to him, so the only thing we truly want is not within our reach."
Bush said the costs of proceeding in court could greatly exceed any award, and a court battle would have placed an emotional strain on the family, as the inquest did.
"We would be reliving the despair, anger, hopelessness and frustration," she said. "While I have made it my life's mission to do whatever is necessary to make the changes to the law, I am no longer sure I can justify putting my family through the ordeal of a court case."
The Mounties have never apologized for Ian Bush's death.
His sister, Rene, said while she doesn't ever expect an apology, she hopes the public doesn't view the family's move as giving up.
"I don't think I'd ever be happy with justice for Ian because I feel he was stolen from me, but I don't think retribution through courts (is necessary)," she said. "Money wasn't what we were going for, we need those changes."
Chief Supt. Craig Callens, the RCMP's B.C. deputy criminal operations officer, said Linda Bush's input into refining RCMP policy and procedures has been significant.
"The RCMP has made changes which include external investigation, review and oversight of serious incidents involving RCMP members and employees, and the installation of video recording equipment in RCMP buildings," Callens said as Bush sat beside him.
"We both agree that these changes are needed in order to enhance the transparency of police operations and to provide a means for greater accountability to the public."
Callens said the RCMP hopes the B.C. government will soon set up its own system of independent investigations, oversight and review of police actions.
The RCMP is also proceeding with plans to install video-recording equipment in its 120 B.C. detachments by the fall of 2012. Houston, a northern B.C. resource town, was one of the first to get additional cameras, Callens said.
Wednesday's announcement comes three weeks after the RCMP reached a settlement with the mother of Robert Dziekanski, who died after Mounties stunned him several times with a Taser at Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
Zofia Cisowski received an undisclosed financial payment and a personal apology from the RCMP in return for dropping her lawsuit against the force.
