RCMP introduce new code of conduct

Daniel Leblanc

OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail

Published

 

The RCMP are introducing a new disciplinary regime that will force the Mounties to police themselves in a bid to win back the frayed trust of the Canadian public.

The goal for the national police force is to try to turn the page on years of negative stories involving “bad apples” and to showcase a commitment to a culture in which Mounties improve their own conduct – and report any wrongdoing by their colleagues.

The final version of the proposed code of conduct and other rules has just been posted on the Internet and is now subject to a final 30-day consultation period before being implemented. There are logistical changes in the overhaul, aimed at speeding up the way the RCMP reprimand, suspend, demote and discharge officers. But the changes also entail a new vocabulary that places the onus on the Mounties to improve their own behaviour.

“We won’t be using the word discipline – it will all be about conduct,” RCMP professional integrity officer Craig MacMillan told The Globe and Mail.

“We have a whole range of measures, as we call them. So don’t call them sanctions or punishment or penalties. We have conduct measures,” Chief Superintendent MacMillan added.

The new system is designed to replace a 25-year-old law that prevented the RCMP from quickly sanctioning officers, with any measure beyond a one-day suspension taking months, if not years, to be imposed. The old system capped the maximum suspension at 10 days; the new system doesn’t have a maximum sanction, allowing greater discretion to local and regional managers to take their officers to task for any cases of misconduct and wrongdoing.

Whereas the RCMP had to assemble three-member panels to deal with most cases in the past, the new, whittled-down process will allow a one-member panel to handle much of the load. The new panels will have powers to prevent procedures from dragging on, including the ability to prevent officers from calling too many witnesses.

The RCMP have struggled to deal with a series of negative stories in recent years, from the death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport to allegations of systemic harassment. Commissioner Bob Paulson vowed in 2011 to foster a new culture of accountability and leadership.

“I tell you, one day, there is going to be the removal of the Stetson if we don’t get this straight,” he told The Globe shortly after taking over from his civilian predecessor. “We’ve got to get onto this. This is urgent.”

The new rules are giving life to the legislation passed last year that amended the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.

The code of conduct prescribes the proper behaviour for Mounties, including a directive to “report as soon as feasible and take appropriate action if the conduct of another member contravenes this Code.”

Chief Supt. MacMillan said that a recent survey inside the force showed that 77 per cent of members are prepared to report misconduct of other employees, a number that he hopes will increase under the new system.

“That’s a positive thing and what we are doing … is going to help to build on that and have even higher confidence levels in employees as they see that their organization is responding to these things in an even more timely way,” Chief Supt. MacMillan said.

 

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Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre


The RCMP are to be commended on first admitting that there is a problem and secondly for having the courage to do something about it despite the fact that most Canadians will have next to no confidence that this "new code" will make any difference, but it is a positive step that needs to be watched carefully that it is put into practice.

They can start by taking a look at Criminal Offenses committed in the Nations Capital Ottawa where we have a Billion Dollars a year spent by Governments on
Criminal Organizations like
The Children's Aid Society of Ottawa where even their Lawyers like
MARGUERITE ISOBEL LEWIS

Personally Fabricate Evidence to ABUSE children and abuse if not TERRORIZE the male victims of domestic Violence and the terror and abuse inflicted by
The Children's aid Society of Ottawa.

In Ottawa there are a large number of RCMP members who have been personally terrorized and or abused by the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa and also, the their enforcement arm, the Ottawa Police.

Take Detective Peter Van Der Zander, Ottawa's number One Corrupt Evidence Fabricating Insult to Police everywhere who, personally fabricates evidence to NOT CHARGE the most violent perpetrators of violence towards children and partners.


The Ottawa Police take their instructions from "The Gestapo" the common name lawyers give to the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa.

If the RCMP want to meet REAL CHILD ABUSERS then can go down to
1602 Telesat Court and ask to meet
their team of Child Protection Workers and amongst the most notorious are
Phil Hiltz-Laforge a pathological liar and fabricator of evidence.

Then there is Claudette Knuckel-Dougan who abuses children by keeping them in care unnecessarily to protect and advocate for some of the Most Violent perpetrators of violence towards children and fathers.

These individuals should NOT be admitted to any other country as they have committed crimes of Moral Turpitude.

The legal profession has a way of dealing with these pitiful examples of humanity, they refuse to look at them in the court-room and or hang their heads.

It's rather an amazing sight, lawyers spot these criminals, hang their heads and look anywhere but at them.

If you meet Marguerite Isobel Lewis or Phil Hiltz-Laforge, remember that these people are protected by the Corrupt Ottawa Police and it appears the entire Judiciary of Ottawa who are largely comprised of either Former CAS lawyers or judges who are too gutless to do their durty.

Don't expect the Crown Attorney's in Ottawa to ever prosecute a case against a member of Ottawa's largest Criminal Organization, the Children's Aid Society.

The "Gestapo", direct the Crown Attorneys to lay charges and to STAY charges especially those charges laid against violent mothers or evidence fabricating lawyers like
Marguerite Isobel Lewis, a child abusing pathological liar who as a lawyer commits blatant offenses in the court room against the Administration of Justice.

Ottawa Mens Centre