RCMP Watch

The Leader-Post
May 19, 2006

The latest attempt to unionize the RCMP paints a picture of an organization that routinely abuses its members.

More than 20 RCMP officers have filed a legal challenge asking the Ontario Superior Court to overturn federal labour laws that forbid the force’s members from forming a union. The claim argues that not being allowed to form a union has left the force’s 16,000 members vulnerable to mistreatment and discrimination by senior officers. The claim says this is especially true of women and members of minorities.

The claim included more than two dozen affidavits containing allegations of sexual harassment, intimidation and a poisoned work environment. The affidavits allege the force’s internal complaint system has been compromised by a lack of independence from senior management and the failure to keep matters discrete.

This is not the first attempt to unionize the force since the government passed an order-in- council in 1919 prohibiting the RCMP from forming a union. In response to these attempts, the RCMP set up various internal mechanisms intended to give members a voice. In the early 1970s, the force set up a division staff relations representative program, whose members met annually with senior management. In 2003, following an extensive review, this was replaced with the staff relations representative program. The new body was mandated to provide members with “fair and equitable representation in staff relations matters” and to allow them a role in the development of RCMP policies and programs.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 5-2 that RCMP officers don’t have a constitutional right to form a union. Writing for the majority, Justice Michel Bastarache said: “It is because RCMP members perform a crucial function in maintaining order during conflicts that may arise in society that Parliament set them apart from other public service employees.”

Having been granted this exclusion, we would argue it is incumbent on RCMP managers to provide members with a complaint system that is fair, independent, unbiased and effective. If they can’t, or won’t do this, then the courts might need to reconsider. RCMP officers may be set apart from other public service employees, but they deserve no less protection from harassment and intimidation.