Public Service Commission Imposes Conditions on the RCMP due to Shortcomings in Public Service Staffing

(Press Release) – The Public Service Commission (PSC) of Canada has tabled today in Parliament the Audit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – appointments under the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). The audit concluded that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) did not effectively manage its public service staffing activities carried out under the PSEA. Approximately 19% or 5,000 of the total RCMP workforce are public service employees under the PSEA. The audit covered the period of April 2005 to December 2007 and examined 204 appointments from across Canada. The RCMP workforce is comprised of police officers and civilian employees. Civilians can be appointed under the RCMP Act as civilian members or under the PSEA as public service employees. We found that the RCMP was unable to provide objective criteria for determining whether to hire civilians under the RCMP Act or the PSEA. This issue is expected to be addressed within the next year by the RCMP Change Management Team and the RCMP Reform Implementation Council. “The RCMP must pay attention to the staffing of its public service employees,”said Maria Barrados, President of the PSC. “We have assigned a special advisor as the PSC representative to provide advice and support to the RCMP,” she stated. The audit found that the RCMP staffing management framework for public service appointments and appointment processes was not implemented as designed. The RCMP did not comply with the requirements of the PSEA, related policies or appointment values – 86% of acting, non-competitive and non-advertised appointments audited, and 30% of competitive and advertised appointments audited did not comply. The RCMP accepted the findings and is committed to developing a plan to address the audit recommendations. In April 2008, a new Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument was signed with the RCMP Commissioner. In it, the Commission imposed conditions on the delegation of staffing authorities. The conditions will remain in effect until the PSC is satisfied with the integrity of the RCMP’s staffing activities under the PSEA. The PSC is an independent agency reporting to Parliament. It is mandated to safeguard the integrity of the public service staffing system and the political neutrality of the public service. In addition, the PSC recruits qualified Canadians from across the country.