RCMP Watch

Tonda MacCharles and Michelle Shephard - Toronto Star

Two senior RCMP officers retired before formal disciplinary proceedings could be completed into allegations of harassment in the workplace, according to a letter obtained by the Star.

The Nov. 2 letter says “formal discipline was warranted” against former assistant commissioner Bradley Holman with regard to “inappropriate behaviour” towards an RCMP employee, and that former chief superintendent Ben Soave would have faced discipline charges for harassment in the workplace.

The letter signed by Deputy Commissioner Pierre-Yves Bourduas was sent to a man who filed a complaint with the RCMP Public Complaints Commission over the way the investigations into the two cases were handled.

The cases point to more problems in the senior ranks of the Mounties as a major report today is expected to call for beefed up oversight of the force’s security operation.

The letter on harassment comes to light as a retired RCMP officer and an Etobicoke MP spoke to the Star yesterday about another case involving the misappropriation of pension funds which they allege is indicative of the “rot” that calls for a dramatic reshaping of the top ranks of the RCMP.

The officers say the resignation last week of commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli won’t be enough to change the culture in the RCMP’s senior ranks.

Justice Dennis O’Connor releases his second report today on the RCMP, which is expected to call for an independent oversight agency for the force’s national security operations.

Speculation is that O’Connor will recommend a “super-SIRC” — a reference to the watchdog Security Intelligence Review Committee that now oversees CSIS — that would focus on the counter-terrorism operations of the Mounties and other federal agencies and departments.

O’Connor’s report stems from his two-year commission of inquiry into the Maher Arar affair. In his first report, he revealed that the RCMP had passed information to the U.S. wrongly labelling 36-year-old Arar as an Islamic extremist with possible ties to Al Qaeda.

O’Connor concluded the incorrect label and other inflammatory descriptions of Arar’s activities “very likely” led to Arar’s 2002 arrest and deportation by the U.S. to Syria where he was held without charges and tortured during interrogation.

Zaccardelli stepped down as RCMP commissioner last week after giving starkly different stories as to when he was notified of the force’s mistakes, and whether he informed his political bosses.

But the problems under Zaccardelli appear to go further. A retired RCMP staff sergeant and Etobicoke MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj are alleging a closed-door culture that punishes, rather than protects, whistle-blowers within the RCMP’s ranks and discourages outside scrutiny will persist if the federal government does not restructure the upper echelons of the organization.

They’re calling for the appointment of a civilian review body that can hear internal complaints and provide whistle-blower protection for RCMP officers. And the appointment of a new commissioner must be done before a parliamentary committee, they argue.

“There’s a rot in the senior executive of the RCMP,” said former RCMP Staff Sgt. Ron Lewis, who retired from the force two years ago. “(Zaccardelli) has resigned, yes. But there’s a culture left behind. He has created a culture of protect, cover-up, circle the wagons. We have to root that out.”

Lewis, who was a senior staff relations officer representing RCMP members at national headquarters before he retired, said he has been approached by 12-15 officers since 2001 with complaints about mishandled pension and contracting funds.

After repeated efforts within the force failed to produce results, Lewis took the complaints outside to the federal auditor general’s office, and to the former Liberal government. (Sheila Fraser two weeks ago reported that about $1.3 million from the pension and benefits fund was spent on contracts that gave little or no value to the police force and benefited senior employees’ friends and family.)

Now Lewis and Wrzesnewskyj, a Liberal MP, say at least four Mounties currently on the force are willing to testify privately before a parliamentary committee with more information about obstructed investigations. They say they are unable to go public now because the RCMP Act forbids officers from speaking to the media.

“We’ve arrived at a point where the RCMP rank and file are bitter, demoralized and unable to function at levels of competency we’d expect,” Wrzesnewskyj said yesterday.

The Star also obtained yesterday a summary of an internal RCMP investigation that clearly states two senior RCMP officers retired before facing internal sanctions.

In his Nov. 2, letter, Bourduas confirmed that a deputy commissioner, after an internal investigation by two senior investigators, concluded “formal discipline was warranted” against Assistant Commissioner Bradley Holman in an allegation of “inappropriate behaviour” against an RCMP employee. But Holman signed retirement papers before the completion of the investigation in November 2004, and the disciplinary charges were dropped. The force loses jurisdiction over Code of Conduct offences after an officer leaves the force.

The Star could not reach Holman yesterday for comment.

The letter also indicates an assistant commissioner initiated formal disciplinary proceedings, following an intensive internal investigation against then-Chief Supt. Ben Soave, who also announced his retirement in late 2004.

“If it were not for the personal decisions of the Assistant Commissioner Holman and Chief Supt. Soave to retire, they would have had to undergo formal discipline,” wrote Bourduas.

But Bourduas made clear that no criminal charges in either case would have gone forward.

In Soave’s case, Bourduas wrote, “There is no doubt that Chief Supt. Soave’s actions constitute a serious breach of the RCMP code of conduct for harassment in the workplace; however … there is nothing to suggest that these incidents should have been looked at criminally,” the summary of the investigation stated.

Asked yesterday if the investigation had any impact on his decision to retire, Soave answered, “absolutely not … I left at 35 years service, which was maximum pensionable service.”

RCMP spokesperson Staff Sgt. Paul Marsh said yesterday he would not comment on specific cases but stated if “a member wishes to retire, it is his or her choice … is no longer subject to the provisions of the RCMP Act, including disciplinary procedures.”

Bourduas’ letter is addressed to John Fearon, a Scarborough man who has been pursuing allegations of wrongdoing within the RCMP, and particularly against Zaccardelli, for years.