RCMP reform still falls short

Toronto Star (TheStar.com)

Rebuilding public trust in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police won't be an easy matter. The Mounties' proud image took a beating following the deaths of Robert Dziekanski and Ian Bush while in custody. And the force faced withering criticism for bungling the Air India case, putting Maher Arar's life in jeopardy, feuding with the security services, punishing whistle-blowers, and misusing stun guns.

Against that background, Commissioner William Elliott's announcement Thursday that the Mounties plan to get out of the controversial business of investigating themselves is a welcome step forward, albeit a belated one.

Elliott proposes that when RCMP officers are linked to deaths, serious injury or criminal behaviour, the force will bring in an independent "provincially or federally established regime" (such as Ontario's civilian Special Investigations Unit) to probe such incidents. Certainly, that's one way to shield the force from perceptions of bias or conflict of interest. But Elliott's "good will gesture" needs fleshing out, in the eyes of former RCMP complaints commissioner Paul Kennedy. That's because few provinces have independent civilian investigative units, or plan to create them.

Apart from serving as the national police, the Mounties carry out local policing across the country, except in Ontario and Quebec. That's eight provinces and three territories. But they have a formal deal only with Alberta to call in civilian-led probes. British Columbia is negotiating a similar deal. And Manitoba and Nova Scotia are pondering regimes of their own. But the RCMP isn't likely to face comprehensive civilian oversight any time soon.

That being the case, Elliott intends to continue calling in police from other forces. If that's not feasible he'll appoint teams of Mounties who will be screened for conflict of interest, who will outrank those they are investigating, and who will work with independent observers.

These safeguards all have merit. But at the end of the day, police will still be investigating police. That's hardly ideal.

This patchwork approach leaves critics such as B.C. New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen calling Elliott's reform "a half-measure at best." He wants Ottawa to create a civilian investigation service specifically for the RCMP, modelled on Ontario's SIU.

With a budget of $4 billion and 26,000 staff, the Mounties can't plead lack of resources. Unless more provinces and territories follow Alberta's example, and set up civilian investigative units soon, that may be the better way to go.

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