The first civilian commissioner of the RCMP says the next head of the national police force should come from within the ranks.
“All else being equal, I think personally, I believe that it would be better for the organization to appoint someone from within the organization,” William Elliott told the CTV News program Question Period Sunday.
Mr. Elliott came into the job two years ago after an internal pension scandal and a controversy surrounding former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who provided contradictory evidence before a House of Commons committee about the Maher Arar case.
His appointment was criticized by RCMP members, some of whom were upset at the idea of serving under an outsider, an issue Mr. Elliott acknowledged during the interview. Some suggested that Mr. Elliott’s appointment was an effort by the federal government to gain more control over the force.
“Certainly my appointment from outside the force was controversial,” he said. “But I was very pleased by the reception I have received, even by those members and employees of the force who were surprised, and frankly disappointed and somewhat angered in some cases.
“Their approach from the get-go has been, ‘That decision is behind us. We’re here to support you.’ ”
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Yes a leader from within the ranks would be better. I also personally think it is time for the RCMP to get out of contract policing. Provinces and municipalities would benefit by having full control of their police forces. The RCMP needs to downsize and concentrate on their federal mandates, specifically national security in cooperation with CSIS. We don’t need $70,000 officers picking up drunks and writing speeding tickets. Gang task forces would be a good area as well. Maybe they should think about a super ministry that brought together Canadian Border Services, Immigration, Anti-terrorism, Anti gangs, Coast Guard and a revamped RCMP, because every one of them overlaps with the other.
Just some random thoughts from a retired mountie.
mid island mike
I agree, Mike.
There’s plenty of talk about different reforms over the next decade but no-one seems to have any definitive answers. Ah well… one day at a time.
m-i-m, if you believe municipal or provincial policing would be cheaper at picking up drunks and writing speeding tickets, you’re forgetting that the RCMP is the only one of the bunch who isn’t unionized. The cost of front-line policing would grow dramatically if the RCMP pulled back to federal only work because unionized forces wouldn’t put up with the lack of ongoing skills training, the chronic understaffing and the meridian other labour abuses which the RCMP has institutionally encouraged for decades.
For instance, on any statutory holiday, the RCMP detachments always go to a skeleton crew who get the dubious honour of getting paid time-and-a-half for the first 8 hours of their shift for working on a holiday. The unionized municipal forces? Most get double or triple time and they’re fully staffed. Why? Member safety doesn’t take holidays.
I’m rather curious why the Commish would make an announcement like this… Is he doing some session planning or does he recognize that it’s very difficult for someone outside of the RCMP to learn and understand the complexities of the organization in a timely manner?
It’s time your organization was brought into the 21st century, Mac. I agree with Mike.
It’s far past time that the provinces created their own police forces like Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland. It may be more expensive for them but the truth is that the RCMP are taking lumps for things they should not be doing.
You have better things to do than write traffic tickets.
You also need a proper bargaining association like the OPP.
Overdue by decades, Jack, but change is coming… slowly and painfully. I had hoped the Commish would put together a “dinosaur” list and invite them to retire but I suspect he was afraid to lose all that experience… plus it might have inspired a revolt…
You’re 100% right about the bargaining association but, at this point, we still don’t have the right to collective bargaining (let alone unionization) and the government is appealing the recent decision re: the SR program so who knows where that’ll end…
Hey Mac, do you remember the pre-overtime days? Of course you will? Stat holidays..for years we were told no time off with the family, everybody has to work, the public needs our protection and support out there on these busy weekends. Okay we all said,makes sense, we’ll all work because it’s our duty and nobody complained. Then the ‘dreaded’ overtime came into effect. For the first time in its history the RCMP was actually compelled to pay officers for all of the hours they worked, especially and including Stat Holidays. Whoa! All of a sudden a huge attitude change top to bottom in managment. Public safety..money…public safety..money. O.K., skeleton shifts on Stat Holidays men (and women), no money to pay overtime. Ha, we sure all got sucked in by all that patriotism, dedication to duty and public safety BS. Even today far too often officers are forced to work alone on Stats because the boss doesn’t want to deplete his OT budget. The RCMP, the frontline officers especially, desperately need a powerful bargaining system whether it be union or association. Nobody should have to die because it doesn’t.
Absolutely… VOT (voluntary overtime) was an expectation, not an option.
That expectation still isn’t gone, btdt, just changed. If you work a federal section, you’re expected to carry a pager and/or cell phone on your days off.
In some specialized sections, we’re restricted from going out of town or rendering oneself unable to respond (ie: drinking too much). We’re not paid “stand-by” pay because we “volunteer” to be on-call. If we didn’t “volunteer”, they would change our shifts to extend the hours of coverage to avoid paying stand-by pay.
Mac: The RCMP was founded on the march west and unfortunately they haven’t progressed enough for the changing times. They are a Federal agency doing work that is constitutionaly a provincial jurisdiction. It is time they concentrated on Federal affairs and forced the Provinces and Municipalities to do what they should do, form their own police agencies. Yeah I know you’ll still have $70,000 Csts picking up drunks and writing tickets but they won’t be Federal Csts on rent to the provinces. Maybe then some of the smaller communities will get better policing and the idea of Csts working alone literaly hours from backup will go the way of the covered wagon.
mid island mike
You could be onto something, mike. I’m trying to imagine the disruption if the Mounties went federal only…