RCMP Public Complaints
Commission

Performance Report

For the period
ending March 31, 1998

Hon. Andy Scott, P.C., M.P.
Solicitor General of Canada

Table of Contents

Chart of Key Commitments

List of Tables and Figures

Executive Summary

SECTION I The Message

SECTION II RCMP Public Complaints Commission Overview

Mandate, Mission and Values

Strategic Objectives

Operating Environment

Operational Targets

Priorities of the Commission Chair

Commission Organization

Business Line

SECTION III RCMP Public Complaints Commission Performance

A. Performance Expectations

B. Performance Accomplishments

1. Chair's recommendations

2. Public hearings

3. Reviews of complaints

4. Receipt of complaints

5. Year 2000 readiness

SECTION IV Financial Performance

Financial Performance Overview

SECTION V Other Information

A. Listing of Statutory and Commission Reports

B. Contacts for Further Information

C. Complaint and Review Process

D. Flowchart of Complaint and Review Process

E. Legislation Administered by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission

Chart 1: Results of Chair's recommendations

Chart 2: Number of completed reports

Chart 3: Number of requests for review

Chart 4: Number of requests for review completed in the year they were received

Chart 5: Number of complaints per year

Chart 6: Number of complaints received by the Commission

Financial Table 1: Financial Requirements by Authority

Financial Table 2: Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending

Financial Table 3: Historical Comparison of Total Planned Spending to Actual Spending

The key challenge facing the RCMP Public Complaints Commission (the Commission) is the elimination of the backlog of cases under review. By the end of the 1997-1998 fiscal year, the backlog had grown to 541 cases.

Tied to this challenge is the necessity of reorganizing the Commission so that it can process requests for review more efficiently without sacrificing quality and objectivity. Also, the Commission will be looking at the possibility of using alternate dispute resolution techniques, such as mediation, as a means of informally resolving both complaints and requests for review.

The primary accomplishment of the Commission in the past fiscal year has been the number of recommendations of the Chair that have been accepted by the Commissioner of the RCMP, with the subsequent changes and additions to RCMP policy which have resulted. These recommendations and results are outlined on pages 11 to 14 of this report.

With the appointment of a new Chair to the Commission and the arrival of a new Executive Director, the Commission is about to embark on the challenge of reworking the complaint and review processes. The results of these activities will be reported in the Commission's Departmental Performance Reports over the course of the next two years.

The role of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission (the Commission) is to help to maintain the harmonious relationship that must exist between the public and the RCMP. The Commission's primary mandate is to ensure that the public complaint process is conducted with impartiality and fairness both to members of the public and members of the RCMP.

After almost a decade of existence, the Commission's activities, in particular the complaint review process, has become, in many ways, unwieldy. The main result has been a backlog of unresolved cases. The net effect has been to restrict the benefits that should flow from the timely resolution of disputes between the public and members of the RCMP.

In the report of the Auditor General of Canada for 1996-1997, there was criticism of the Commission for its backlog, which stretches back five years. In response to this criticism, the Chair of the Commission has undertaken to overhaul the process for handling complaints with the objective of reducing to four months the time required to complete a review. Other responses to the Auditor General's report are detailed in the following report. Suffice it to say that, in future, the Commission will always seek the least formal and most efficient options to resolve complaints, without compromising the values of impartiality, fairness and transparency.

The Commission looks forward to getting the changes outlined in this report truly underway during the 1998-1999 fiscal year. In doing so, the Commission expects that these changes will result in a significant improvement to its service to the Canadian public.

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

• receiving complaints from the public;

• conducting a review when complainants are not satisfied with the RCMP's disposition of their complaints.

The RCMP Public Complaints Commission contributes to public confidence in the quality of policing provided by the RCMP.

The core values of the Commission in achieving its mission are:

• To uphold and preserve the rights of all members of the public as set forth in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and under the laws of Canada.

• To ensure that members of the public and law enforcement officials are treated in a fair and impartial manner.

• To effectively communicate the work of the Commission to complainants, members of the RCMP and the public.

The operational values of the Commission can be given effect by the following strategic objectives:

• To ensure that the review of complaints are dealt with in a timely fashion.

• To carry out a communications strategy to inform the public about the existence of the Commission and its role in the law enforcement environment.

The Commission is an independent, arm's length government agency. It reports to Parliament through the Solicitor General of Canada; however, the Solicitor General has no involvement in the internal operations of the Commission.

Although in normal circumstances the Commission relies upon the goodwill of the RCMP to receive information relevant to a complaint, the Commission does have the legislative authority to conduct its own investigations and/or to institute public hearings when the Chair deems it appropriate.

The principal beneficiary of the work of the Commission is the Canadian public. Whenever problems with RCMP policy, procedure or with the conduct of particular members of the RCMP are found to exist by the Commission, the correction of such problems is for the good of both the public in general and the RCMP in particular.

• To reduce the number of requests for review through alternate dispute resolution techniques.

• To reduce the time to conduct a review through more flexible processes.

• To hold more expeditious public hearings.

• To ensure that the public is aware of its right to make complaints about the conduct of RCMP members and to have the RCMP disposition of those complaints reviewed by the Commission.

• To eliminate the backlog of requests for review.

• To introduce the use of alternate dispute resolution.

• To implement a strategic communications plan for the Commission.

• To develop a stronger and more effective planning component for the Commission.

The RCMP Public Complaints Commission (the Commission) was established by Part VI of the RCMP Act as an independent and impartial quasi-judicial body to receive complaints from members of the public and to review the RCMP disposition of those complaints.

The Commission consists of a full-time Chair, a Vice-Chair, members for each contracting province and territory, and not more than three other members. All are appointed by Order of the Governor in Council for three to five years. The Chair is a full-time member. The other members may be appointed as full-time or part-time members. An alternate member can be appointed to act for any member of the Commission other than the position of Chair. The main function of members is to conduct hearings to which they have been assigned by the Chair. The establishment and organization of the Commission is provided for in Part VI of the RCMP Act.

Each province and territory that contracts with the RCMP for policing services is represented on the Commission by a member for that jurisdiction. The provincial or territorial minister or other elected representative responsible for policing in each contracting jurisdiction must be consulted before the appointment of such a Commission member. No member of the RCMP may be appointed.

The Chair is the chief executive officer of the Commission and may delegate his or her statutory powers, duties and functions to the Vice-Chair, except the Chair's delegating powers and the Chair'sresponsibility for the Annual Report. The Chair must prepare an annual report of the activities of the Commission during that year and his or her recommendations, if any. The Solicitor General of Canada must table a copy of the report before both Houses of Parliament.

The Commission's organizational structure as it was on March 31, 1998 is on page 8. The Western Region Office is located in Surrey, British Columbia and is responsible for complaints and investigations from Yukon, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Prairie provinces. The Western Region Office is staffed by the Regional Director, investigators and support personnel. The Head Office of the Commission, located in Ottawa, receives complaints from Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. As well, all reviews carried out by the Commission are conducted at the Head Office.

Order in Council P.C. 1986-2904 designates the Commission as a department for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act and the Public Service Employment Act.

The Chair of the Commission reports to Parliament by means of an annual report that is tabled in Parliament by the Solicitor General of Canada.

The Commission has one business line. That business line is the receipt of complaints and the review of the RCMP disposition of complaints.

* This chart depicts the organization as it existed on March 31, 1998.

The main purpose of Parts VI and VII of the RCMP Act is to provide members of the public with an avenue to have their complaints dealt with in a way that is fair and impartial and to protect RCMP members from frivolous or vexatious public complaints.

The Auditor General of Canada in his December 1997 Report to the House of Commons devoted a chapter (34) to the Commission. His report was critical of certain aspects of the management of the Commission. He had three main points of criticism:

• The Commission's handling of complaint reviews and public hearings is slow and cumbersome. It needs to streamline the review process and provide appropriate training to Commission members responsible for conducting hearings.

• The Commission should have a communications strategy to inform Canadians about their right to request reviews when they are not satisfied with the RCMP's disposition of their complaints.

• The Commission needs to enhance its performance measures in order to provide a fuller picture that demonstrates its contribution to the public complaint process and the effectiveness of that process.

The new Chair of the Commission, who was appointed in October 1997, has accepted the challenge of renewing the Commission during her tenure. She has stated her priorities as follows:

• eliminating the backlog of requests for review;

• accelerating the review process by increasing the flexibility of Commission procedures;

• incorporating alternative dispute resolution techniques for settling complaints;

• improving the overall efficiency of Commission hearings; and

• increasing public awareness of the responsibilities and activities of the Commission.

In order to carry out the priorities of the Chair, the Commission has undertaken a major reorganization that will be completed during the next few months. Some steps have already taken place. For example, the Commission's Regional Office in Edmonton has been closed and its functions consolidated with the Vancouver Regional Office into a new Western Region Office in Surrey, B.C. There will be a net addition of three positions to the Surrey office, as it will continue to be the principal complaints-receiving office of the Commission. The office of the General Counsel was abolished, which resulted in the freeing up of two positions for reallocation to core functions.

Other activities in the reorganization of the Commission follow. The operations area has been split into two units: the Complaints Unit and the Review Unit. The Complaints Unit, with a small staff at headquarters and encompassing the Western Regional Office, will focus on developing the capacity to facilitate informal resolution or mediated resolution of a larger proportion of incoming complaints. The work of this Unit will be supplemented by the use of contract mediators to assist parties to resolve their differences.

The Review Unit will be located entirely at headquarters. It will comprise two sub-units: the review sub-unit and the backlog sub-unit. The objective of the new review sub-unit will be to begin providing much improved service to the public by achieving a quick response to new review requests. The objective for the backlog sub-unit is to eliminate the backlog of cases by the end of the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

A new function, Registrar and Director of Special Projects, is also being created. The objective of this function is to provide sharper focus to hearings and to major investigations.

Finally, to strengthen the policy planning, performance measurement and communications capacity of the Commission, a new Policy and Planning Unit is being created including the appointment of a second Senior Policy Advisor and a Senior Communications Advisor. An operational plan will be developed for the Commission during 1998-1999 including target dates and performance measures. The objective of the operational plan is to provide a fuller picture of the Commission that demonstrates both its contribution to the public complaints process and the overall effectiveness of that process. In addition, a Communications Strategy and Plan will be developed and implemented during 1998-1999. The main aim of the Communications Plan will be to ensure that all Canadians are aware of their right to make complaints and to have the RCMP disposition of those complaints reviewed by an independent and impartial body.

As was set out in the Key Commitments table on page 1, the overriding commitment for the Commission is to contribute to a safe and secure society in Canada through the independent and impartial review of the RCMP's disposition of public complaints. By publishing information about the Chair's recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP, the Commission can demonstrate how it contributes to an improved RCMP. If the Commissioner of the RCMP accepts the majority of the Commission's recommendations, it means that the Commissioner regards them as helpful. This is demonstrated by the number of changes that are made to RCMP practices, policies and procedures as a result of the Chair's recommendations.

The service standards are to provide a service that is:

• fair, impartial and responsible;

• reliable, timely and accessible;

• open and clear;

• responsive and committed to improvement;

• good use of the taxpayer's dollar, and

• in partnership with all Canadians.

All the changes to the structure and procedures of the Commission that are being undertaken during the 1998-1999 fiscal year are related to the wish of the Commission to meet its service standards. By eliminating the backlog, by using alternate dispute resolution methods to settle matters before they become formal complaints and by reducing the time required to complete reviews, the service standards of the Commission will be met.

As stated earlier, the mission of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission is to contribute to the confidence of the public in the quality of policing provided by the RCMP. The RCMP Public Complaints Commission is the organization mandated by Parliament to review the disposition of public complaint investigations by the RCMP. The Commission, in an ombudsman-like fashion, makes recommendations for the betterment of the RCMP and its practices.

The recommendations of the Chair fall into two categories: preventative and curative.

The preventative recommendations are meant to provide information to the Commissioner on how to prevent the recurrence of particular situations. The methods by which situations can be avoided in the future can be:

Curative recommendations are meant to provide the Commissioner with information that may facilitate the resolution of the complaint. These recommendations include:

Chart 1 provides information on the number of preventative and curative recommendations made by the Chair in a fiscal year and the number of recommendations with which the RCMP Commissioner agreed or disagreed. Generally, most of the recommendations are preventative. For example, the Chair will suggest that a member be reminded of the RCMP policy concerning a certain issue or that the RCMP should consider developing new policy to deal with particular matters. Also, the chart shows that in about two thirds of the cases, the Commissioner agrees with the recommendations made by the Chair. This means that in the majority of cases, the Chair of the Commission is able to assist the RCMP in improving its service to the Canadian public.

The following examples demonstrate the impact of the Commission on RCMP policies. The cases exemplify the overall success of the Commission in terms of its mission to contribute to the public confidence in the RCMP as the best possible police force.

After the demonstrations at the University of British Columbia during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference in November 1997, the Commission received a large number of complaints about the conduct of certain RCMP officers who were involved in those events. As a consequence, the Chair established a public interest investigation on December 9, 1997. Subsequently, on February 20, 1998, the Chair instituted a public interest hearing to look into the matter. To deal expeditiously with the public concern in the matter, the Chair set the hearing for mid-April 1998. However, because of circumstances related to the numerous parties involved and the lengthy time taken for production of documents, the Commission adjourned the hearing to October 5, 1998. This hearing will look into:

• the events that took place during, or in connection with, demonstrations during the APEC conference;

• whether the conduct of members of the RCMP involved in the events was appropriate in the circumstances; and

• whether the conduct of members of the RCMP involved in the events was consistent with respect for the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The interim reports of the panels involved in the Brake/Peter-Paul and Farness public hearings were also received by the Commission and sent to the interested parties. The final report of the Chair in respect of the Wilson public hearing was also completed. All of these hearings had been held in 1996-1997.

In 1997-1998, the Commission received 275 requests for review from complainants not satisfied with the RCMP disposition of their complaints. During the same time, the Chair of the Commission signed 178 reports. In 99 of the reports, the Commission Chair indicated satisfaction with the RCMP's disposition of the complaint. The Commission Chair also issued 34 interim reports where she was not satisfied with the RCMP disposition of the complaint and made recommendations for further action by the RCMP. The Commissioner of the RCMP is required to respond to each interim report with a statement of the action that has or will be taken on the Commission Chair's findings and recommendations. These responses from the Commissioner of the RCMP were addressed in 45 final reports of the Commission Chair issued in 1997-1998.

Chart 2 shows the number of reports of the Commission Chair completed each year, including:

• the total number of reports;

• satisfied reports, i.e. reports where the Chair is satisfied with the RCMP disposition of public complaints;

• interim reports, i.e. reports containing the Chair's findings and recommendations, where the Chair is not satisfied with the RCMP disposition of public complaints; and

• final reports containing recommendations, i.e. reports prepared after receipt of the RCMP Commissioner's response to the interim report.

As was discussed earlier, the Commission has accumulated a serious backlog of review cases. As evidence of the increasingly cumbersome process for handling reviews, the time involved in completing a review has been increasing in recent years. The reorganization of the Commission has been undertaken to address and eliminate this backlog.

One of the objectives of the reorganization is, for the next three years, to have a special unit of the Review Section devoted solely to the backlog. It is a priority of the Chair to have the backlog eliminated by the end of the 2000-2001 fiscal year. Another objective of the reorganization is to streamline the process being used to resolve reviews and reduce the average review time to 120 days.

Chart 3: Number of requests for review

Chart 4: Number of requests for review completed in the year they were received

4. Receipt of complaints

One of the activities set out in Part VII of the RCMP Act is the receipt of complaints and their transmittal to the RCMP for investigation. Although the RCMP Public Complaints Commission has no control over the number of public complaints it receives, the number of complaints has remained relatively stable during the past four fiscal years, at about 950 complaints a year.

However, during the 1997-1998 fiscal year, there were two events that gave rise to an increase in the number of complaints:

• the May 1997 demonstrations in St. Sauveur and St. Simon, New Brunswick, concerning announced school closures, and

• the events in Vancouver, British Columbia concerning the APEC conference at the end of November 1997.

The number of complaints received directly by the RCMP has also remained fairly stable at 1,400 complaints a year during the past several years. The combined total of complaints for the past three years is shown in Chart 5.

Chart 6: Number of complaints received by the Commission

In keeping with the service standard of reliable, timely and accessible service, the receipt and transfer of the public complaints to the RCMP for investigation are carried out as quickly as possible. However, to date no action has been officially taken by the Commission to attempt settlement of the issues before the matter becomes a formal complaint. It is anticipated that with the introduction of alternate dispute resolution techniques into the complaint receipt process the number of formal complaints might be lower in the future.

The Commission's information technology systems are provided by the Department of the Solicitor General of Canada. 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.

During the 1997-1998 fiscal year, as the result of retirements, the completion of a term of appointment and maternity leave, an amount of $260,378 was received from the Vote 5 Contingency Fund. In addition, the Commission, through supplementary estimates, received a carry-forward amount of $95,963.

¹Total Authorities are main estimates plus supplementary estimates of $95,963 for the 1997-1998 carry-forward and Vote 5 Contingency Fund of $260,378 for a total of $356,341.

¹Total Authorities are main estimates plus supplementary estimates of $95,963 for the 1997-1998 carry-forward and Vote 5 Contingency Funds of $260,378 for a total of $356,341.

Tables 4 through 15 are not applicable to the Commission.

A. Listing of Statutory and Commission Reports

Annual Reports
1988-1989 to 1997-1998

RCMP Act (Commission consolidation)
March 1990

Federal and Provincial Police Oversight Legislation:A Comparison of Statutory Provisions
June 1991

P.O. Box 3423
Station "D"
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6L4

Telephone: (613) 952-4283
Toll Free: 1-800-267-6637
Fax: (613) 952-8045

C. Complaint and Review Process

Complaints arise as follows:

• complaints from members of the public, directly to the RCMP;

• complaints from members of the public, to the Commission or to provincial policing authorities; and

• complaints initiated by the Chair of the Commission.

Each complaint is dealt with as follows:

• first, the RCMP conducts an investigation;

• then, the Commissioner of the RCMP reports the results of the investigation to the complainant.

If the complainant is not satisfied with the RCMP report, and has asked for a review by the Commission:

• the Commission Chair may ask the RCMP to investigate further, if the investigation seems to be inadequate;

• the Commission Chair may initiate her own investigation; or

• the Commission Chair may hold a public hearing.

If the Chair of the Commission is satisfied with 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.

D. Flowchart of Complaint Process

Flowchart of Review Process

Part VII, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act R.S., c. R-9, Part VII