Rod Mickleburgh, Vancouver, B.C. (Globe and Mail) – In March of 2007, veteran RCMP Sergeant Derrick Ross headed to Afghanistan as part of the Mounties’ continuing mission to help train that war-battered nation’s civilian police force.
Once there, however, his scheduled year-long tour of duty turned into a nightmare. According to Sgt. Ross, a Métis, his stay was marked by racial tension and condescension from other RCMP members. He was further perturbed, he says, by the practice of some Mounties to accompany military excursions, which Sgt. Ross felt was beyond their prescribed policing responsibilities.
After just six months, Sgt. Ross, who had raised questions over behaviour he thought was improper, was sent home, after a computer incident from which he was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.
Now, in a statement of claim to be filed today in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Sgt. Ross is suing senior RCMP officers over his treatment in Afghanistan and alleged harassment once he returned.
In the writ, a copy of which was obtained by The Globe and Mail, Sgt. Ross accuses his superior officers of ignoring his requests for assistance with respect to “the poisoned work environment, the racial tension and the regular practice of [other] members to exceed the mandate of the mission in a manner [he] felt was unsafe.”
The writ explains that Sgt. Ross was part of the mission’s Team B, comprising, besides himself, a native, an Inuit and an African-Canadian. Team A, which had arrived a month earlier, was mostly Caucasian, says the writ, which contains allegations that have not yet been tested in court.
One Team A member told several Mounties in Team B that he did not believe in “native rights,” according to the writ. When the matter was raised with an RCMP Superintendent, the writ says that he advised Sgt. Ross and another Team B member: “Don’t go there.”
Further, the court statement claims that Team A criticized Team B for not being “military” enough, and Team B was disproportionately assigned menial tasks.
Tensions also developed over Team A’s insistence on participating in “activities with the military that were outside of the unit’s mandate, and which [Sgt. Ross and others in Team B] considered dangerous and unsafe,” the statement of claim says.
His subsequent removal from Afghanistan halfway through the mission humiliated Sgt. Ross, causing him severe distress, a long medical leave and damage to his career, the writ alleges. A member of the RCMP for 21 years, he is currently serving at the detachment in Surrey, B.C.
Another member of Team B was also sent home at the same time and is considering his legal options as well, Sgt. Ross’s lawyer Marjorie Brown said.
Sgt. Ross is claiming unspecified “compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages” because of the “wanton and outrageous conduct of the Defendants,” his writ states.
RCMP spokesman Sergeant Rob Vermeulen declined to respond to the writ’s allegations.
“Obviously, if this matter is headed to court, it would not be appropriate to comment,” Sgt. Vermeulen said.
The RCMP will now have an opportunity to file a reply to Sgt. Ross’s statement of claim.
Perhaps people should not make up their minds about a case before hearing all the facts.
Perhaps the the whole B groups were a bunch of employment equity Duds.
Perhaps the A group were a bunch of Cowboys and loose cannons.
Perhaps it was Sgt. Ross’s fault.
Perhaps he was harassed beyond what any human being should endure.
Perhaps there was nothing wrong with the physiological testing and these persons were having a normal reaction to a highly abnormal situation.
Perhaps group B was set up to fail.
Perhaps there really are complaints of harassment that are legitimate.
Perhaps if you were the one that had been targeted in such a manner, you would empathize with those who had.
Perhaps if it were you this happened to, you would have whined, buckled and caved well before anyone there did.
Perhaps when you ASSUME things you make an ASS out of U and ME
Perhaps because of predispositions like this, due process is denied and it has helped turn the RCMP into the political, dirty rotten employer that only 26% of employees have faith in…
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Too dangerous? I would think just being in that country would be dangerous.
Perhaps the participants did not fully understand the training course they were on before being sent over. They are advised of the social and political environment, government policy, relevant conditions, best practices and experiences of former colleagues who have been there. The psychological testing phase must have missed something.
Perhaps the selection criteria should be examined a bit closer.
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Isolated Incident or a pattern of international and national racist behaviour? You decide! See below attachment.
PROCESS:
1.Your definition of Racism?
2. Does Racist Behaviour take place in the RCMP?
3. If no, don’t go to number 4
4. If yes, should Racist Behaviour take place?
5. Fighting racist behaviour can only be done in three ways:
(a) Fighting Racist Behaviour with our hands. (Violence being the last resort of the unheard.)
(b) Speaking out against the Racist Behaviour.
(C) Hating the Racist Behaviour in our hearts. (Hating it in our hears being the least effective.)
SITE:
Racism Alive and Thriving in the RCMP & the SPP? « Politics’n'Poetry
Sgt. Yarinder Singh Brar’s treatment by the RCMP casts a stain on the force and … RCMP members bullied some of the local house staff, African Citizens, ..
Calvin Lawrence
CGL Consulting
Hot debate. What do you think?
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This looks to me to be a form of workplace mobbing/ bullying that is so rampant in the force. Make someone’s life Hell so they quit or will be forced to leave because of stress. The problem here is proving that it was racially motivated. The primary concern in investigating this kind of thing should be the harassment, not racial motivations as they can be more difficult to prove. Sadly, this kind of behavior is seldom brought to account unless racial discrimination can be proven. This also makes it more difficult for harassed Caucasians to get any kind of justice when they are harassed also.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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What is disturbing is the way tidbits of information continue to trickle out.
If I am not mistaken, this is an entirely separate email than the one that caused the extension of Braidwood’s hearings.
It appears the RCMP echelon do not realize the enormity of the problem; just how severely the public trust has been eroded.
As the public cries out for justice, for the force to come clean amid lame testimony of their members, we are given even more cause for suspicion as information trickles out like diarrhea.
No wonder there are foolhardy calls for a disbanding of the RCMP. Apparently lied to, the Canadian public has been embarrassed on the international stage with an egregious injustice.
Do they not get that?
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