Douglas Quan (Vancouver Sun) – More than 80 per cent of Canadians believe Canada’s Mounties are honest and work with integrity and professionalism, according to an annual survey gauging satisfaction with the national police force.
However, the same survey showed Canadians have a dimmer view of the force when it comes to its leadership and its ability to communicate. And less than 60 per cent of First Nations respondents said the force was responsive to aboriginal issues.
The Harris/Decima survey involving 7,000 Canadians took place over June and July 2011, before the appointment of a new commissioner and before the emergence of a sexual harassment scandal involving the force. A margin of error was not provided.
According to the survey results, which are posted on a government website, 81 per cent of Canadians believe RCMP personnel are honest and 88 per cent believe they carry out their duties with professionalism. While those numbers are an improvement over the previous year, they are lower than the 91 to 93 per cent of Canadians who held those feelings five years earlier.
The Mounties didn’t score as high in other areas.
Sixty-nine per cent agreed with the statement that the RCMP has “strong, reliable leaders” and 68 per cent agreed that the RCMP “communicates openly to Canadians.” Seventy-three per cent believe the force investigates public com-plaints appropriately and with transparency.
The force was unable Wednesday to provide a breakdown of the survey results by province.
Meanwhile, a separate survey asked the RCMP’s contract partners, including mayors and aboriginal leaders, for their views of the force. Among First Nations respondents, 63 per cent said they believe RCMP personnel show respect, 66 per cent have trust and confidence in the RCMP, and 58 per cent believe the force is sensitive to aboriginal issues.
The response from mayors was much higher in each of those categories.
Commissioner Bob Paulson was unavailable to comment, a spokeswoman said.
But since he officially took over the force in December, Paulson has moved quickly to try to repair the RCMP’s image. Within days of being sworn in, Paulson signed an agreement with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo to work to build better relations with aboriginal communities and solve cases of missing and murdered aboriginal people.
The plain-spoken leader also vowed to bring swift discipline against officers who commit “outrageous” conduct, tackle claims of pervasive harassment in the workplace and boost female representation in the senior ranks. With a class-action lawsuit looming, however, the harassment scandal may worsen before it gets better.
The force has been rocked by other controversies in recent years, including the Taser-related death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport, a pension-fund scandal and the botched handling of the Maher Arar affair.
[Source]
You misread my comments. To be clear, I agree with the poll as do my neighbours. I am not mad or disillusioned or ill informed. No idea where you got that crap from. Happy in the service, unlike what I glean from your comments.
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I agree with that poll as do my neighbours. All professional people who observe that “you people need to tighten up your promotion process”. It has been rare when other than criminals the comments I get are that the Force is doing a bang up job on the streets but need some help in the front office.
I am glad we are separated from bad management in the eyes of joe taxpayer.
Nice plug for your little gaggle. I would rather join the teamsters than your MPA bunch of whiners. At least the the teamsters are a real union with some clout
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