The Estimates Documents

The Estimates of the Government of Canada are structured in several parts. Beginning with an overview of total government spending in Part I, the documents become increasingly more specific. Part II outlines spending according to departments, agencies and programs and contains the proposed wording of the conditions governing spending which Parliament will be asked to approve. The previous Part III of the Estimates has been split into two documents: a spring report "A Report on Plans and Priorities" and a fall report "Departmental Performance Report".

A Report on Plans and Priorities provides additional detail on each department and its programs primarily in terms of more strategically oriented planning and results information with a focus on outcomes.

The Departmental Performance Report provides a focus on results-based accountability by reporting on accomplishments achieved against the performance expectations and results commitments as set out in the spring Report on Plans and Priorities.

© Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada 1999

Available in Canada through
Associated Bookstore and other booksellers

or by mail from

Publications Development and Marketing Group
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0S9
Catalogue No. BT31-2/1999-III-13
ISBN 0-660-60071-4

Approved

___________________________________

Hon. Lawrence MacAulay, P.C., M.P.
Solicitor General of Canada

A. Chair's Message

B. Management Representation Statement

A. Mandate, Role and Responsibilities

B. Objective

C. Operating Environment

D. Financial Spending Plan

A. Summary of Priorities and Expected Results

B. Business Line Plans

C. Consolidated Reporting

While looking ahead to future fiscal years, I cannot help but remark on the extraordinary year the Commission has just come through. In the context of celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Commission has had an unprecedented amount of public and media attention and, operationally speaking, has never been busier.

Looking to the future then, my first priority is to continue with the restructuring of the Commission to more efficiently process complaints and reviews and to eliminate the backlog of review cases that has accumulated. One dimension of the restructuring initiative involves the implementation of less formal and more efficient means of resolving complaints against members of the RCMP. Other priority activities include completing the APEC public inquiry and carrying out 2 public interest investigations and 8 other investigations.

Significant steps were taken with respect to the restructuring initiative in spite of unprecedented operational demands. The remaining work should be completed in the coming year. The backlog of review cases has been substantially attacked and, with the appointment of a Vice-Chair whose efforts will focus on backlog elimination, major progress is forecast for the next fiscal year.

B. Management Representation Statement

Section II: RCMP Public Complaints Commission Overview

A. Mandate, Role and Responsibilities

The mandate of the Commission is set out in Part VII of the RCMP Act. Its main activities are:

• receiving complaints from the public;
• reviewing the RCMP disposition of complaints when requested to do so by complainants who are not satisfied with the RCMP's disposition of their complaints; and
• conducting investigations and hearings.

The fundamental role of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission is to contribute to the enhancement of public confidence in the policing activities of the RCMP. It does this by providing, at the request of complainants, independent review of the RCMP's disposition of complaints and by making recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP and to the Solicitor General.

Members of the public may make complaints about the conduct of members of the RCMP to: the Public Complaints Commission; directly to the RCMP; or, to the provincial authority responsible for policing. The Chair of the Commission may also initiate a complaint if she considers that there are reasonable grounds to do so. Complaints are normally sent first to the RCMP for investigation. The Commissioner of the RCMP is required to report the results of the investigation to the complainant. If the complainant is not satisfied with the RCMP report or disposition of the complaint, he/she may ask for a review by the Commission, in which case:

• The Commission conducts a review of the investigation, which may include a request to the RCMP for further investigation if the original investigation seems to be incomplete or inadequate;
• The Commission Chair may initiate her own investigation; or
• The Commission Chair may establish a public hearing.

If the Chair of the Commission is satisfied with the RCMP's disposition of a complaint, the Chair reports this finding in writing to the complainant, the RCMP members involved, the Commissioner of the RCMP and the Solicitor General.

If the Chair of the Commission is not satisfied, she sends an interim report to the Commissioner of the RCMP and to the Solicitor General. This report is treated as follows:

• the Commissioner of the RCMP informs the Chair and the Solicitor General in writing of any action to be taken in response to the Chair's findings and recommendations, including the rationale for decisions not to take any action; and following this

• The Chair prepares a final report that includes the text of the Commissioner's response, as well as the Chair's final recommendations, and sends it to the complainant, the RCMP members involved, the Commissioner of the RCMP and to the Solicitor General.

B. Objective

To provide the public with an opportunity to make complaints regarding the conduct of members of the RCMP in the performance of their duties, and to have the RCMP disposition of those complaints reviewed by an external body in an independent and impartial manner.

C. Operating Environment

The Commission is an agency of the federal government, distinct and independent from the RCMP. It reports to Parliament through the Solicitor General of Canada; however, the Solicitor General has no involvement in the operations of the Commission.

As a neutral third party, the Commission is, and must be seen to be, impartial and fair in its dealings with both complainants and RCMP members complained about. When reviewing the RCMP's disposition of a complaint, the Commission does not act as an advocate for either the complainant or RCMP members. Rather its role is to inquire into complaints independently and impartially to arrive at objective conclusions based on the information provided by complainants and the RCMP.

Expectations of the Commission are high. Both complainants and members of the RCMP have expressed their view to the Commission that the processing time should be shorter. In other words, they expect their cases to be reviewed more expeditiously.

The APEC hearing in Vancouver and the public interest investigation in New Brunswick have elevated the Commission's public profile, with the result that the Commission is receiving an unprecedented number of enquiries and requests for information.

D. Financial Spending Plan

¹ Reflects best forecast of total planned spending to the end of the fiscal year.

B. Business Line Plans

Planned Spending

PRIORITY

• Ensure that the receipt and review of complaints are dealt with in a timely and efficient fashion

STRATEGIES

• Restructure the Commission for more effective use of its resources
• Develop a more expeditious system of review of complaints
• Eliminate the backlog of requests for review
• Use informal resolution techniques where appropriate
• Improve quality of data in the complaints tracking database to provide more reliable and consistent statistics
• Enhance the effectiveness of Commission members in the conduct of public hearings
• Reduce the time and cost of public hearings

EXPECTED RESULTS

• four-month (120 days) turn-around time by the end of the 2000-2001 fiscal year in cases where the Chair is satisfied with the RCMP disposition of the complaint;
• elimination of the backlog before the end of the 2000-2001 fiscal year;
• a more streamlined review process in place before the end of the 1999-2000 fiscal year;
• training of Commission members in adjudicative processes to be completed by the end of the 1999-2000 fiscal year;
• revision of the hearing and registrar's manuals;
• development of appropriate measures of Commission effectiveness; and
• development of an indicator of client satisfaction with the review process.

PRIORITY

• Develop an effective communications strategy to reach and engage Canadians

STRATEGIES

• Hire a communications specialist
• Implement a communications strategy

• Determine effectiveness of the communications strategy

EXPECTED RESULTS

• use of community and ethnic newspapers to disseminate information about the Commission;
• distribution of brochures to target audiences;
• client knowledge of Commission in targeted communities, and
• public speeches by the Chair, Commission members and the Executive Director.

Consolidated Reporting

The Commission's information technology systems are provided by the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada on a cost-shared basis. The Department does not have any government-wide mission critical systems (GWMCS). It has a modern LAN based infrastructure based on commercial or government shared systems that are either already Year 2000 compliant or will be prior to the Year 2000. Its corporate systems, such as those for finance, human resources and information management are being upgraded or replaced with identified Year 2000 compliant government shared systems.

Table 1 : Spending Authorities

Table 2.1 : Organization Structure

Table 2.2 : Planned Full Time Equivalents (FTE) by Program/Business Line

Table 3 : Commission Summary of Standard Objects of Expenditure

Table 4 : Commission Resources for the Estimates Year

Table5 : Net Cost of Program for 1999-2000

Table 6 : Statute

Table 7 : References

Table 4: Commission Resources for the Estimates Year

Table 5: Net Cost of Program for 1999-2000

Other information

The RCMP Public Complaints Commission shares responsibility with the RCMP for carrying out the provisions of:

Part VII, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act                     R.S., c. R-10, Part VII

In addition, the RCMP Public Complaints Commission reports to Parliament on:

Parts VI and VII, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act         R.S., c. R-10, Part VI, Part VII

Index