Justice Critic Helen Conway-Ottenheimer says the province needs to speed up legislation to allow for a police oversight committee.

The Law Enforcement Oversight Commission Act made it to the House of Assembly but didn’t get past the first reading before the House closed earlier this month.

Conway-Ottenheimer says Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the last jurisdictions without a police oversight board, which would oversee policy, procedure and accountability of the RNC and RCMP.

“One of the functions that these boards look at, it does deal with priorities for policing. It deals with allocation of resources within police departments and, importantly, is discipline of police officers. But what a civilian body does, it ensures that there’s that accountability, that level of transparency and openness to ensure that there is trust,” she told VOCM News.