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 I was performing my prayer in a business parking lot in White Butte, Saskatchewan, on foot across the country, far from any mosque. I was silent and in one spot, with my bags beside me. A member of the RCMP White Butte Detachment drove the police vehicle at me during the prayer and stopped in front of me. She asked whether I was impaired and questioned me about drugs. I explained the prayer. She said that this was great and that she had learned something new. She took my name and date of birth and told me I 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 me under the Privacy Act on 24 September 2026. One entry records a telephone call with the member ten days after the contact. It is quoted here as released, in full.
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
On 20 May 2026, four days after the call, the Agency issued a warrant for my arrest on the ground that I was unlikely to appear.
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 my 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 me as missing on 1 May 2026. She told me I was not listed. By her own account she “realized he was listed as missing” when she ran my name.
4. Religion, finances, route and destination went into two databases. The note records my religion, an estimate of my funds, the way I was travelling and where I was going. None of it concerned an offence. All of it now sits in GCMS and NCMS.
5. A sworn prediction of arrest. A statutory declaration by the member 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. The warrant followed in four days.
What has been filed
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 May 2026 | The Chilliwack Detachment, British Columbia, lists me as a missing person. |
| 6 May 2026 | The contact in White Butte. The member closes her file the same day. |
| 16 May 2026 | The member’s call with CBSA, quoted above. Her statutory declaration is added to GCMS and NCMS. |
| 20 May 2026 | CBSA issues a warrant for my arrest. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
Answers are published here as they arrive, quoted as received. Silence is recorded on the date it becomes silence.
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. The original pages are available on request to any journalist, counsel or tribunal.
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).