Canada’s auditor general has added his voice to the call for change within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The role of the auditor general is to collect information and expert advice on government programs and activities through audits. It then reports to Parliament which holds government to account for spending.
RCMP not meeting staff mental health needs
Among his findings, Auditor General Michael Ferguson found the force was not providing the mental health support to meet the needs of staff. The force has a mental health strategy but it failed to make implementation a priority and did not commit the resources for it, said Ferguson.
He also found the RCMP did not support members on sick leave or adequately accommodate their return to work.
‘A triangulation of trouble’
“I’m calling this a triangulation of trouble for the RCMP,” says Paul McKenna, and adjunct professor at Dalhousie University specializing in policing and criminology.
ListenTwo reports issued on Monday, May 15, looked at workplace harassment within the force.
Two reports call for civilian governance
“The RCMP will not be able to bring about the necessary change required to address its dysfunctional culture on its own,” wrote Ian McPhail, chair of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP.
And, in investigating the complaints that four women brought against the force, former auditor general Sheila Fraser said it was apparent that “significant improvements” were needed in the way internal investigations are handled.
But more dramatic, was the fact that both called for a change to civilian governance and oversight of the force.
‘A real blockbuster’
“(It’s) a real blockbuster,” says McKenna. “It’s recommending the establishment of a board of management for the RCMP. That would be like a civilian governing authority that would oversee the strategic operation of the management of the RCMP and clearly that would be a ‘turnkey’ kind of recommendation that might lead to other major organizational changes.”
‘A golden opportunity’ for change
It remains to be seen what the security minister will do with these recommendations. McKenna notes “Ralph Goodale has already said ‘we can and we must do better.’ That’s what these reports are making clear. So, I hope that he is a seasoned and sensible enough senior politician to recognize that he’s got a golden opportunity to actually effect change. The buck stops with him.”
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