An RCMP member stopped a man at prayer. Ten days later she told the border agency it was “perhaps mental health issues”.
White Butte, Saskatchewan, 6 May 2026 · the CBSA note released 24 September 2026, file P-2026-40785 · published 25 September 2026 · Danilo Dzyuban, Ottawa · record
On 6 May 2026 Danilo Dzyuban was at prayer in a business parking lot in White Butte, Saskatchewan, on foot across the country, far from any mosque. He was silent and in one spot, with his bags beside him. A member of the RCMP White Butte Detachment drove the police vehicle at him during the prayer and stopped in front of him. She asked whether he was impaired and questioned him about drugs. He explained the prayer. She said that this was great and that she had learned something new. She took his name and date of birth and told him he was not listed as a missing person. Then she left. Her file was closed that day.
What she told the Canada Border Services Agency on 16 May 2026
The Canada Border Services Agency released its enforcement file on Dzyuban under the Privacy Act on 24 September 2026. One entry records a telephone call with the member ten days after the contact.
On May 16th, 2026, a call was placed to a Cst. SASK of the White Butte RCMP detachment in Saskatchewan. She informed me that she intercepted DZYUBAN on May 6th, 2026 in White Butte Saskatchewan. She approached him as he appeared to be a homeless male with several bags doing some unusual behaviour in a business parking lot. She described him as putting his hands on the pavement then up to the sky perhaps like he was praying. She asked what he was doing and he said that he was praying as it is part of his religion as he is Muslim. She asked where he was from and he said that he was from British Columbia. After a small conversation she got his name and date of birth from him then realized he was listed as missing. As there were no requests to return him and he was not a minor, she had her staff contact Chilliwack RCMP and concluded her file. Of note, she originally thought he was impaired by substances, but after talking to him she did not think it was substances, but perhaps mental health issues. She asked where he was going and he said that he was heading to Winnipeg and asked her for a ride. She declined being able to give him a ride and that was the end of her interactions with him. She believes that he likely does not have any funds and is more likely hitchhiking across the country. Statutory declaration added to both GCMS and NCMS as he will likely be arrested in another province.
Canada Border Services Agency, enforcement file narrative, entry of 16 May 2026, released 24 September 2026 under file P-2026-40785 — the entry as released
The Agency signed a warrant for Dzyuban’s arrest at Vancouver on 11 May 2026, 5 days after the contact in White Butte, on the ground that he was unlikely to appear. It entered the warrant in its case system on 20 May 2026. On 22 May 2026 its officers arrested him in Ottawa and released him the same day on conditions.
What the record shows
Five things, each in the Agency’s own words or the member’s.
1. Prayer was read as intoxication. “She originally thought he was impaired by substances.” A man standing and bowing in one spot, in silence, with no offence alleged, was approached as a suspected drug user and questioned on that basis.
2. When the prayer was explained, the theory changed rather than closed. “After talking to him she did not think it was substances, but perhaps mental health issues.” To his face she said she had learned something new. To a federal enforcement agency, ten days later, she gave a diagnosis.
3. The missing-person entry. The Chilliwack Detachment had listed him as missing on 1 May 2026. She told him he was not listed. By her own account she “realized he was listed as missing” when she ran his name.
4. Religion, finances, route and destination went into two databases. The note records his religion, an estimate of his funds, the way he was travelling and where he was going. None of it concerned an offence. All of it now sits in GCMS and NCMS.
5. Her account was sworn into the file. The Agency’s officer wrote her account into a solemn declaration made at Vancouver the same day. It was “added to both GCMS and NCMS as he will likely be arrested in another province”. She had closed her own file ten days earlier with nothing to charge. 6 days after the call the Agency arrested him in another province.
What has been filed
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 May 2026 | The Chilliwack Detachment, British Columbia, lists Dzyuban as a missing person. |
| 6 May 2026 | The contact in White Butte. The member closes her file the same day. |
| 11 May 2026 | CBSA signs a warrant for his arrest at Vancouver. |
| 16 May 2026 | The member’s call with CBSA, quoted above. The Agency’s officer takes her account into a solemn declaration, added to GCMS and NCMS. |
| 20 May 2026 | CBSA enters the warrant in its case system. |
| 22 May 2026 | CBSA officers arrest him in Ottawa on the warrant and release him the same day on conditions. |
| 24 Sept 2026 | CBSA releases the enforcement file under the Privacy Act, P-2026-40785, 227 pages in three parts. |
| 24 Sept 2026 | Public complaint against the member filed with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission under section 45.53 of the RCMP Act, by fax. Complaint against the RCMP filed with the Canadian Human Rights Commission under sections 5 and 14 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, ground religion. Privacy Act request filed with the RCMP for the occurrence report, the notebook, the in-car video, the body-worn camera recording, the vehicle GPS data, the dispatch records and the statutory declaration. |
| 24 Sept 2026 | Preservation demand to the Officer in Charge, White Butte Detachment, by fax: hold every recording and record of 6 and 16 May 2026, and produce the member’s name, rank and regimental number and the occurrence number by 2 October 2026. Letter to the Commanding Officer, “F” Division: the Division’s policy on stops of persons at prayer, on recording religion, and on statutory declarations to CBSA, by 9 October 2026. |
| 2 Oct 2026 | The date set in the preservation demand passes. No answer from the detachment. |
| 25 Sept 2026 | Letters to the Minister of Public Safety of Canada, to the Minister of Community Safety of Saskatchewan, whose Province pays for the service under the Provincial Police Service Agreement, and to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. Each carries the same two questions and the date of 9 October 2026: under what policy is prayer a ground for an impairment check and an identification demand, and under what authority does a member give CBSA an opinion on a person’s mental health and a prediction of arrest. |
| 25 Sept 2026 | Complaint against the RCMP delivered by fax to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada under section 29 of the Privacy Act: the collection of his religion, his funds and his route, their disclosure to CBSA, and the accuracy of what was disclosed. |
| 28 Sept 2026 | Complaint against the Agency delivered by fax to the Privacy Commissioner on request P-2026-40785, with the request that the two files be joined. |
| 29 Sept 2026 | The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission registers the public complaint as file R2026-008858 and puts two questions. Both answered the same day from the file the Agency released. |
Verification
The Agency’s release was received by email on 24 September 2026 in three parts and read by optical character recognition. The entry above is reproduced from pages 26 and 27 of the third part.
Citation: Danilo Dzyuban, “An RCMP member stopped a man at prayer. Ten days later she told the border agency it was ‘perhaps mental health issues’.” (25 September 2026).