Editorial (Edmonton Journal) – Back in 2007, the appointment of William Elliott as RCMP commissioner seemed to be the right move by Stephen Harper. Wracked by scandal, horrendous optics and internal turmoil, the battered national police service desperately needed fresh leadership at the top.
Notwithstanding this week’s foolish contention by the normally sensible Liberal MP Scott Brison that naming any civilian to the post was “a recipe for disaster,” Elliott appeared to be a logical enough choice. The career top-level civil servant appeared to come with a sterling resume and was certainly completely uncompromised by internal Mountie machinations.
Three years on, the state of the institution is even worse, dragged further down by a series of high-profile disasters well known to all Canadians.
This week, the latest boot to drop involves what amounts to a full-scale revolt by senior managers. They’ve travelled all the way to the prime minister’s office demanding Elliott’s head, claiming he is a serial verbal abuser, the classic boss from hell. Now leaked, the complaints talk of the commissioner throwing papers at a subordinate and being forced to take a $40,000 American executive coaching course — read: anger management.
The minister responsible, Vic Toews — a very tough and decisive hombre when he chooses to be — has instead downloaded the matter to an independent adviser charged to provide a confidential “workplace assessment” examining the complaints.
This is shaping up to be classic deja vu all over again. In 2007, independent adviser David Brown concluded that the man at the top of the force not only displayed an autocratic style, but wielded “absolute power,” “with little regard or respect for those with whom he was dealing.” That commissioner wasn’t Elliott, but Giuliano Zaccardelli, the previous boss, who left his job under murky circumstances. Were the accusers the same?
Of course, it could be that Elliott is indeed a hothead unsuitable for a very tough assignment, although he doesn’t seem to have a history of that behaviour. At any rate, some sympathy might be extended his way given the force’s continuing gaffes, some of which could have prompted a Zen master to lose his cool. From the beginning, Elliott was seen to be a transitional leader, an outside change agent capable of sparking the transformation of the RCMP’s broken culture. Although he has said that is well on the way — with some justification in the areas of stopping self-policing and tightened stun gun use — it’s clear enough that there is much work to be done. Morale certainly isn’t exactly through the roof.
It seems obvious now that sweeping personnel changes are required, both in the commissioner’s office and in the top ranks of the force, where many senior leaders are nearing retirement age. A civilian oversight body, as Brown recommended, might help. It won’t be easy, but if the Harper government is really serious about law and order it should begin the painful but pressing process of ushering in a new generation of RCMP leadership with dispatch.
How many years are you willing to give him? Nothing of any real substance has been accomplished by him since his occupation of the highest office with the blessing and backing of the government. He has had benefit of 3 studies, a management training course and a free hand. Straightforward issues such as under-staffing are solved regularly by large corporations. Drop non essential services and bolster the critical ones. For a small example: Does the RCMP really need CPTED? Crime prevention by environmental design. Or could this be done by the private sector? Do they really even need the bloated crime prevention and victim services units at a time when operational police officers cannot get a forensic expert for a crime scene for a day or two?
And where is the evidence that Zaccardelli “entertained his officers with perks and with free pension money”? Or are you referring to Elliott’s junket to the US for his edification at huge tax dollar output? The misuse of pension money was to move the services elsewhere without using operating funds. Where is the report that outlines your assertion? I would like to read it.
When it comes to the leadership of Commissioner Elliot, one thing remains for sure, he didn’t lie like a dog to parliament and he hasn’t entertained his officers with perks and with free pension money at the expense of others in the force, which didn’t belong to him.
So if the top brass is agitated, support him and give him a chance, just maybe, he’s on the right track and they are not.
“Elliott is going to change the RCMP’s Communist, dictatorship style organization. He should fire his deputy’s and assistants for trying to stop a positive change.”
If it were so, he would have, in the last years actually made some changes as he is the head “communist”. So if his top lieutenants disobeyed his direct orders, they would be in contravention of the RCMP Act and could be charged. Section 48 of the RCMP refers. Under 24.1 he may convene a board of inquiry if he thinks there has been anything untoward. Has he?
No, he is just another government hack that has no idea of what needs to be done, even though there are studies to point him in the right direction.
Elliott is going to change the RCMP’s Communist, dictatorship style organization. He should fire his deputy’s and assistants for trying to stop a positive change.
WARNING!!! The House of Commons tabled a Bill to produce a Union before they recessed for the summer. Now when the house is to soon reconvene, & vote on the Bill. The RCMP want the man who’ll make the changes, removed from command.
That should be evidence enough for anyone to realize that the force is definately up to No Good.
Any change that has come about in the RCMP has not occurred due to the insightful forethought of the new boss. Inquiries, inquests, and case law have formed the policies on their own. He has authored the change management teams which he left to atrophy on the vine. The same issues as noted by the Brown report still exist. So where has he been? Same inertia that the government suffers from because he is a government hack from some place else shuffled into a job he has no idea about.
On one hand people decry the organization as autocratic and suffering from command and control issues. So, if that is true than why has he not made decisions and implemented them? He has the authority and the RCMP are used to taking orders.
Maybe its time to select Mr. Braidwood as a leader and see how he does. After all, he is jurist, intimately familiar with the law, and the RCMP is an organ of the legal system. I do not recall him stuttering through his last assignment.
As I said before;
Going against the will of the people, in the seriousness of thier actions and the ones calling for a public inquiry, Stephen Harper decided to have his way and appointed someone to fix this internal mess.
Commissioner Elliot’s experience was going to fix everything and was his choice but was it the best way appart from a complete review of the force or was it to buy time?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper resisted the will of the people and the changes he sought to make through Commissioner Elliot was also met with resistance within the ranks and file of the RCMP.
Maybe it’s time now to suck it up and order a Public Inquiry into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to see what happen aand have a real look at all the issues plaguing this federal police force, before something happens out there, someone gets killed again and they can’t fix it like the incident at the B.C. Airport with the polish visitor.
This force is acting very strangely and has been doing so for many years now and in the wake of this latest uproar at the higest level of the RCMP, attempting once again to patch it up isn’t going to resolve the issues plaguing this force and sweeping these issues under the political rug, is not going to work anymore.
I think it’s high time for surgery, take the bandade off, it’s a cancer and cut it out so Canadians can have confidence in the leadership of this country again.
I think Harper did the right thing when he appointed Elliott to head the RCMP. Looking at what has been going on in the ranks it was/is time for real change, I suspect the discontent at the top is due to Elliott ordering changes that are not popular and yes the top mounties resent his presence. I sure think Elliott deserves the support of the gov’t as a total shake-up is needed and the sooner the better. Elliott seems to have much experience in gov’t and probably he very capable of doing the job. Far too long the RCMP have had a lack of direction and it time for a total change in all upper management.
I think a lot of the resentment between Elliott and his band is due to the fact that Elliott is a civilian, whereas the regular RCMP members are a fraternity. One thing’s for sure – the Mounties will take orders, but only from other Mounties. I’m sure that having a civilian for a boss is eating them to no end.