Sean Silcoff, Ottawa (Globe and Mail) – Members of the RCMP’s iconic Musical Ride team spent a recent Thursday afternoon in another ceremonial role – acting as an honour guard at RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson’s wedding – a part that normally isn’t played by officers on duty.
The Mounties, when first contacted by The Globe and Mail, said the officers were volunteers, which is the practice, but when pressed revealed they were on a paid shift.
Commissioner Paulson and Erin O’Gorman, a director-general in Transport Canada, were married at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Ottawa on Aug. 16. The bride wore a strapless white gown; the groom was in his RCMP uniform, said guest and parishioner Marlene Pignat.
The low-key wedding was attended by about 80 guests – plus a full “honour guard” consisting of eight RCMP officers dressed in their red serge uniforms, who formed a bridal arch with their lances. “They were dressed in all their finery,” said Ms. Pignat. “It was very nice. The couple seemed to be relaxed and enjoying the moment.”
When The Globe enquired the following day, RCMP spokesman Corporal David Falls said the eight officers were members in training from the Musical Ride branch who volunteered to be at the wedding.“These duties were performed voluntarily at the end of their workday,” Cpl. Falls said in an e-mail.
But sources familiar with the situation say the eight trainees were in fact assigned to attend the wedding as part of their regular duties. Because the wedding happened at 4 p.m., their shift was changed that day to start at noon instead of 7 a.m.
When pressed for clarification, Cpl. Falls acknowledged the wedding in fact happened “in the middle of the [modified] shift” and that the commissioner requested an honour guard. But the spokesman insisted the trainees “were polled for their possible interest in this event. They were not assigned.” Again, sources familiar with the situation say that in fact they were assigned and did not volunteer.
While the officers were not pulled from active police work – they are spending the year learning to ride and care for horses before joining the ceremonial riding team next year – they were assigned to attend a private function on their employer’s time, to the benefit of their boss.
Commissioner Paulson has made it his mission to clean up the troubled organization.
The Globe made several attempts to contact Commissioner Paulson, who is on leave until Sept. 4. He was not available for an interview, and it is unclear whether he knew the officers were on duty.
One retired high-ranking RCMP official who asked not to be identified said he’d never heard of anyone being assigned during their working hours to perform honour-guard duties at a colleague’s wedding. “These are things that in the past would have been looked past, but in this day and age, when everybody’s looking at how we spend the public purse, they aren’t.”
Tim Killam, a retired deputy commissioner with the RCMP, pointed out the officers pulled in for wedding duty were performing a ceremonial role in their regular day jobs in the first place, and that RCMP officers regularly show up at sporting events and other public forums as part of their assigned duties to do little more than stand upright and look iconic. “We do honour guard all over across this country because people look at the RCMP as a national symbol. How do you say no to that?” he said. “We’ve been doing it forever and people want it. People are proud of traditions. This is a duty I would think [the trainees] would want to do. It’s a great gig. It’s this, or what do you do back at the stable?”
[Source]
By all means lets have a criminal investigation into this heinous activity. The subtle and insidious nature of this act requires an arms length spirited investigation. We can also conduct some forensic investigations into the past practice of officers bearing lances at colleagues weddings now that we are aware of this practice.
A marathon of strange and wonderful sights no doubt awaits us as we delve into whether or not shifts have been modified, and stalls in the barns of the volunteers left in a unkempt state replete with manure. Hopefully the other colleagues have not picked up the extended absence with any dispatch.
We have to ascertain that the learning officers are not becoming shrouded in anxiety and gloom. A mandatory visit to the psychologist would be in order. Perhaps there was an unwritten maxim similar to one that could permeate the handling of the Stanley Cup and officers were not being paid overtime and were not on duty but true volunteers.
There obviously has to be some organizational coherence to the volunteer policy to ensure that it is not actually compensated time, vis a vis annual salary dollars, for any such venture. Let us ensure that the officers affected did not entertain a bi-lateral agreement to make up the few hours at a later date, as that would negate this carnal antic in criminal court. Or for that matter have beholden overtime in reserve being utilized.
The absolute temerity of the Commissioner to not have fully investigated the form of volunteerism he received in his request from the Sgt Major!
Hold your children close now, this demented arrogance has deemed the Commissioner an unfailingly ropey sort. I say polygraph the lot. The roiling waters of regulatory gauze need penetration and analysis forthwith.
The cacophonous din in this matter of national importance has the a quality of petty vengeance and sneering righteousness more than optics and relevancy.
Exactly right, Calvin.
Generally wedding honour guards are personal friends of the bride and/or groom and perform the function on their own time. I’m pretty sure the 8 Constables involved are complete strangers to the Commissioner. I personally don’t know of any members, apart from one or two professional brown-nosers, who would willingly perform unpaid duty at the Commissioner’s wedding, and I’m surprised that the Commissioner thought this is what actually happened.
I’m loathe to defend Bob Paulson, but I have a suspicion that someone down the chain of command informed the Commissioner that these members had “volunteered” – assuming that “volunteered” in this case meant agreeing to a shift change and agreeing to exchange paid work in the stable for paid red serge duty. This may all have been an honest – although dumb – mistake.
But it begs the question: how can management fix any of the organizations problems if they can’t even get little stuff like this right?
How is this any different than when they put a Constable through the ringer for stealing a tank of gas? How is this any different that when those members that were shagging in a PC on company time? The biggest common denominator is, they like the commissioner are doing things or in Paulsons case have others do things that are not on the company clock.
This is in my opinion “theft of compensated time”, and this is more expensive than a few gallons of gas.
Same old rhetoric from the Top, same different set of rules….
Well look at what Commissioner Zaccardelli did with the pention fund.
Perks, perks, perks; but we must at least admit the Commissioners seem to be tonning it down a bit.
He could have used senior RCMP members but maybe they wern’t available because they busy were taking notes for the media, who knows.
Is this a case of “I don’t care” or a “lapse in judgement” by Paulson. Either way the optics are terrible for the RCMP.
“When The Globe enquired the following day, RCMP spokesman Corporal David Falls said the eight officers were members in training from the Musical Ride branch who volunteered to be at the wedding.“”
When pressed for clarification, Cpl. Falls acknowledged the wedding in fact happened “in the middle of the [modified] shift” and that the commissioner requested an honour guard. .
News Quote
Was the above response by Falls a false response only to be caught as a result of other RCMP sources explaining what really happened? Investigate! Then tell the truth no matter who it helps or who it hurts.
Tim Killam, a retired deputy commissioner with the RCMP pointed out the officers pulled in for wedding duty were performing a ceremonial role in their regular day jobs in the first place, and that RCMP officers regularly show up at sporting events and other public forums as part of their assigned duties to do little more than stand upright and look iconic
Newspaper Quote.
Is Killam trying to equate Red Serge Duties that are part of a public event with a personal request from the Commissioner to attend his wedding. If Killam does not see the difference then any member of the RCMP who gets married in uniform should be able to request the musical ride members while they are on duty at taxpayers expense.
Once again the culture of privilege has raised its ugly head in the RCMP. Should he be made to pay the cost out of his own pocket?
This is happening while members are losing their benefits, and being nickled and dimed in the field.
My message to RCMP members is:
“Silence is consent. Suffering is optional”. .