RCMP Watch

Suzanne Taylor, Maclean’s

Nearly seven months after Giuliano Zaccardelli stepped down as RCMP commissioner amid a swirl of controversy, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced on Friday the appointment of the police force’s new leader, William Elliott.

Elliott, who takes over from interim commissioner Bev Busson, was formerly associate deputy minister at Public Safety Canada and has served as a national security advisor to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former prime minister Paul Martin. Macleans.ca talked to former RCMP commissioner Norman Inkster, a member of the selection committee and managing director at Navigant Consulting, about what Elliott’s appointment means for the beleaguered national police force.Macleans.ca: This is the first time in recent history that someone from outside of the force has been appointed as its leader. Was Elliott’s distance from the force behind the decision to appoint him?

Norman Inkster: No. People are concentrating on what he hasn’t done. That is to say, he hasn’t been a member of the RCMP and hasn’t gone through police training and so on and so forth, all of which is true. But my thinking is that the focus should be on what he does bring to the job - particularly given the rather unique challenges the RCMP seems to be facing today, flowing from the Arar commission report, the report by David Brown and all the national security issues that are of concern. His knowledge of Ottawa and his experience in Ottawa, the fact that he’s a lawyer by profession and training, I think will serve him and the force well in handling those issues.

M: Do you think he will help improve the RCMP’s image at this point?

NI: Definitely. He’ll bring some fresh thinking to the RCMP. But I have to say, he is a man who has the greatest respect for the RCMP and, indeed, considerable compassion for the men and the women in the RCMP and the issues that the organization is now facing.

M: Was appointing an outsider the only way to help clean up the Mounties’ image?

NI: No, no. As any committee would do, we were simply looking for the best person for the job at this time in the organization’s history.

M: How do you think Elliott’s going to be received by the rank-and-file members of the force?

NI: Those who are tradition-bound, of course, will be terribly upset that someone from the outside has been appointed. I think that, by and large, Commissioner Elliott, with his manner and his style and so on, will win most of them over. Perhaps not all. But for [most], I think they’ll take a wait-and-see attitude.

M: What kind of a leader can we expect Elliott to be?

NI: I think he’ll be a very, very effective leader. I don’t think he’s going to be someone who jumps to conclusions and not someone who reacts without getting all of the facts, but he will very clearly be in charge.

M: Do you think that his leadership style will differ fundamentally than if a deputy commissioner had been appointed?

NI: I don’t think so. He will not be imbued with the paramilitary structure and mannerisms of an organization like the RCMP. He will be very, very consultative, but he recognizes, as anyone does in a role of that size and complexity, that at the end of the day, having consulted wisely, decisions will have to be made.

M: David Brown said in his report that the Mounties’ command structure allows for a certain lack of accountability. Is that something that Elliott is going to be looking at?

NI: With all due respect to David Brown, who I know well and admire, there is no lack of accountability. There’s no lack of accountability, but that does not mean for a moment that the commissioner of the RCMP, or any organization of that size and complexity, could not benefit from having advisors, whether it’s a board of directors or a board of advisors, to refer to on dealing with matters of substance. [Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day] announced that there’s a task force going to be formed and part of the job of that task force will be to look at issues of management, structure and governance.

M: After his investigation into the Maher Arar case, Justice Dennis O’Connor recommended the creation of a more robust independent watchdog for the RCMP. What does this appointment mean in light of those recommendations?

NI: Commissioner Elliot said this morning that public oversight of the RCMP is welcomed and indeed he was only echoing the same comments that have been made by Commissioner Busson. So there is no fear about having oversight and review mechanisms in place and I think that, once the appropriate model is designed for the RCMP, it will be welcomed.