Do Ya Think "Acting" Commissioner Daniel Dubeau will track down my old Harley and the Yankee wiretap tapes before I sue the RCMP and their cohorts in Fat Fred City Finest?
Years ago in April of 2007 on a dark and rainy night to be exact I encountered the mindless Constable Nancy Rideout Fat Fred City Finest in front of the RCMP HQ of New Brunswick. The dumb cop had another car pulled over on the side of the road so I was going around them slowly because I could not see well because of the rain and fog and thought there may have been an accident or whatever in front of the RCMP HQ. All of a sudden the dumb cop ran across the road in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid striking her because her car was to the leaft and she was heading across the road in a hurry. Once I stopped the wacko cop began beating on my window with her flashlight in a effort to break it below I put the car out of a gear and and bring it down to speak with her. I certainly hope the conversation was recorded because I asked he if she was nuts because as a cop she should know not to run out in moving traffic in such a fashion. She quickly claimed that I was avoiding a roadblock. However there was no sign of a roadblock whatsoever as sh falsely claimed and her shift boss Cpl Lord of the Fat Fred City Finest HQ later denied that evening bragged to me that he associate Robb Costello was investigating me tried to seize my Yankee Drivers License and my Lincoln Towncar registered in the "Live Free or Die" State of New Hmpshire. Once I picked up the phone and called 911 in front of her in order to report the police harassment and her badge number she threww my drivers license back into my car and told me she was not afraid of "Yellow Stripers" Cpl John Green of the Crown Corp commonly known as the RCMP apparently falsely claimed to me that he and his fellow members
Hey Premier Brian Gallant Section 300 of the Canadian Criminal Code is still constitutionally valid CORRECT?
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 11:49:29 -0400 Subject:
Yo Premier Brian Gallant Once again trust that your are more than
welcome Too bad so sad for us all that your lawyers are not as ethical
as your computer is N'esy Pas? To: premier ,
Brian.Gallant@gnb.ca, oldmaison , woodsideb
, oldmaison1
, "brad.woodside"
, "marilyn.kerton"
, "Jacques.Poitras"
, nmoore ,
sallybrooks25 , COCMoncton
, markandcaroline
, upriverwatch
, "peter.dauphinee"
, "mike.obrien"
, "Leanne.Fitch"
, "leanne.murray"
, law
, boutetlaw@gmail.com, "serge.rousselle"
, "jeff.mockler"
, "steve.murphy" ,
"Steve.Murphy" , "Stephen.Horsman"
, "Gilles.Blinn"
, "dan. bussieres"
, kevin.darrah@gmail.com,
tonywhalenward7@gmail.com, Bren4Ward8@gmail.com, greg.ericson@gmail.com,
chasesa@gmail.com, csanzida@lakeheadu.ca, ericpriceward4@gmail.com,
brucegrandy14@gmail.com, kentfox@nbnet.nb.ca,
kevin@kevinbrewerfinancial.com, scott.dana@outlook.com,
markpetersward2@gmail.com, jamiecummingsfredericton@gmail.com,
mike.obrienfred@gmail.com, framing@nbnet.nb.ca,
jon@jonathanrichardson.ca, roger.michaud@rogers.com,
info@mallet-ward12.com, gerrymaher@bellaliant.net, daveabowen
, ward11@doityoussef.ca,
fredvoteskaterogers@gmail.com, cobbryan7@gmail.com,
wilc.blake@rogers.com, johnmacdermid ,
almabrooks26 , andre
, "john.gamblin"
, "ron.tremblay2"
Cc: David Amos
, "Davidc.Coon"
, briangallant10
, "mckeen.randy"
, Patrick_lacroix
, maurice
, "Frank.McKenna"
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Gallant, Premier Brian (PO/CPM)" Date: Wed, 11 May 2016 15:46:18 +0000 Subject: RE: Now that his old buddy Brad is no longer "The Mayor" Perhaos the evil blogger Chucky Leblanc and all his Green Meanie Fake Left and Native buddies will remember the email from David Kelly four years ago N'esy Pas? To: David Amos
Thank you for writing to the Premier of New Brunswick. Please be assured that your email has been received, will be reviewed, and a response will be forthcoming. Once again, thank you for taking the time to write.
Merci d'avoir communiqué avec le premier ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick. Soyez assuré que votre courriel a bien été reçu, qu'il sera examiné et qu'une réponse vous sera acheminée. Merci encore d'avoir pris de temps de nous écrire.
Sincerely, / Sincèrement, Mallory Fowler Correspondence Manager / Gestionnaire de la correspondance Office of the Premier / Cabinet du premier ministre
When Evelyn Greene could not get the responsible government agencies in New Brunswick to carry out a proper investigation of the heinous attack made against her at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, she drew up some papers to get access to information under the Freedom Of Information legislation and, on May 13, 2011, she personally delivered those papers to the various agencies one of which was the Ambulance New Brunswick facility on HaroldDoherty Road in Fredericton.
Based on investigations, it now appears that the the staff at Ambulance New Brunswick were alerted in advance to Greene's visit and they set a devious trap for her that included the Frederitcon City Police as willing participants.
Here are the facts and the we will let the reader be the judge.
The Ambulance New Brunswick on Doherty Road is a public health facility which means Greene had right
to be there, to request and receive medical services, and not to be
ejected by the staff or the police for no good reason.
Greene entered the Ambulance New Brunswick
facility and asked to speak to the manager so she could give him the
papers requesting documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The staff told her the manager was away and would be returning later so Greene advised
she would wait for him in the sitting area and she also asked for
someone to take her blood pressure and other vitals because she was not
feeling well.
Is Nancy Rideout and out of control police officer?
Greene went over to the sitting area and sat down.
Suddenly, within minutes, four police cars showed up and four officers
got out and entered the Ambulance New Brunswick building looking for Greene. The lead officer, Nancy Rideout, came over to Greene and told her to leave the building. Greene told Rideout that she wasn't feeling well, needed to sit for a while and was waiting for medical attention.
Instead of leaving Greene alone, officer Nancy Rideout was clearly on a mission and, without lawful authority, assaulted Greene by grabbing her arm to try to remove her from the building and Greene responded, as she was legally entitled to do, by brushing Rideout's hand away and telling her to leave her alone because she was sick.
Greene was legally entitled to do this because a police officer, in Canada,
does not have legal authority to grab someone and attempt to remove
them from a public health faciltiy, especially when they are there for
treatment, as Greene was. The proper procedure is for
the police officer to first put the person under arrest for some crime
and then, and only then, does the officer have the legal authority to
use force to remove a person from a public building. However, since Greene was committing no crime, officer Rideout had no authority to arrest her or touch her in any way.
Police Brutality Has Come To New Brunswick
The incident should have ended there but officer Rideout,
who, incidentally, has a history of accusations made against her by the
public for police brutality, seized the opportunity to declare that Greene
was now under arrest for assaulting a police in the course of her
duties, a declaration which was not entirely correct because officer Rideout had no legal right to ask Greene
to leave a public health facility where she was seeking treatment and
then to use force to try to remove her and, under common law, Greene had a lawful right to use reasonable force to protect herself from the unlawful assault of Rideout
who was, at the time, a police officer who had stepped over the line
between acting in the course of her duties and acting outside the course
of her duties.
Not only did Rideout arrest Greene without cause, but, according to Greene, Officer Rideout then led her outside the building through the double entry doors where Rideout, thinking the security cameras, would not see her, inflicted a brutal assault on Greene that left Greene with visible bruises. While in police custody Greene
was, for a time, denied access to her medication and when released she
found that a significant sum of moeny had gone missing from her purse.
Greene was charged with assaulting a police officer and the local Crown Counsel, who
work closely with the police and the drug using staff at the local
hospital, pursued the prosecution with an unsual vigour and disregard
for due process that creates the strong smell of corruption at the CrownCounsel offices of the Province of New Brunswick.
The editors acknowledge that police are in a tough position and make
decisions that they later regret but when a police officer, like Nancy Rideout, loses
control in the course of her duties and assaults an innocent citizen
waiting for medical treatment, it is time to send that officer for a
psychiatric assessment and re-training instead of covering up his or her
criminal conduct.
Unfortunately, instead of reprimanding Rideout and having her assesed by a competent psychiatrist, the City of Fredericton,Crown Counsel, and the Attorney General for New Brunswick
decided that a cover up was their best alternative but, in the course
of that cover up, they made a very serious mistake because when Greene asked for copies of the video surveillance tapes at the Ambulance New Brunswick faciltiy where she was arrested and assaulted by Rideout they gave Greene a copy that had clearly been tampered with (according to three expert witnesses) and that proved that the Crown Counsel office in Fredericton was
not only protecting an out of control police officer but that
they were also protecting drug using staff at a public health facility
thereby endangering every resident of the province.
The Editors caution the reader that while the foreging accusations by T.C. and Andre Murray
have not been proved in a court of that does not mean they did not
occur. However, when three unrleated citizens, all of good repute, make
similar accusations against the same police officer then the rational
person concludes that it is probable that the police officer is guilty
as charged.
Moreover, in the Greene case, there was video evidence
and that evidence has been tampered with and that tampering proves the
police had something they wished to cover up.
What is disgraceful if that the Public Prosecution Service ofNew Brunswick, also known as CrownCounsel, knows the video evidence was tampered with and Crown Counsel is continuing its prosecution against Greene
on the basis of video evidence they know has been tampered with. Of
course, they also intend to reply on the evidence of the police officer
who, on the basis of sworn statements by three unrelated citizens,
appears to be a danger to the public.
What is even more disgraceful is that some of the judges of the local New Brunswick Provincial Court have assisted local Crown Counsel and the City of Fredericton Police to resisted Greene's
applications to get a full copy of the original video surveillance
tapes thereby calling into question the independence and intergfity of New Brunswick Provincial Court judiciary.
Posted by
Advocatus Dei
at
11:43 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ3CUw1WltQ
Serving Constable Nancy Rideout, at 10:20 AM Tuesday October 11, 2011 at 311 Queen Street
Mr Frank McKenna
c/o Ms Kathy Thompson Assistant Deputy Minister
Public Safety Canada
269 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario KIA OP8
Dear Mr. McKenna,
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Veterans’ Association, I congratulate you on your appointment as the
Chair of the Selection Committee responsible for developing and
recommending a list of highly qualified candidates for the position of
Commissioner for consideration by the Minister of Public Safety and
Emergency Preparedness.
The Public Safety Canada news release of June 29, 2017, noted the full
list of Committee members and their Terms of Reference will be announced
shortly. As neither has been released, and if the slate of members has
not been finalized, I would ask you to consider, or suggest to the
Minister to consider, appointing a Committee member(s) from the RCMP
Veterans ‘ Association to assist you in the selection process. If you
concur, we stand ready to assist you in identifying a suitable candidate
for Selection Committee membership.
The RCMP Veterans’ Association has been in continuous existence since
1886. In 2014 it was registered under the Canada Not-for-profit
Corporations Act. The Association also has a charitable fund registered
with the Canada Revenue Agency since 1969 (“Maintiens le Droit Trust
Fund”). The Association has 30 chapters (called “Divisions”) in
communities all across Canada as well as the Registered Office at the
Canadian Police College in Ottawa. The association currently has about
7,000 Active and Associate Members, comprising serving, former and
retired Regular and Civilian Members; Reservists; Auxiliary and
Community Constables; Public Service Employees; Temporary Contract
Employees; and Municipal employees of the Force, as well as their
families.
Since our initial formation more than 130 years ago, our mission has
included (as stated in our Articles of Continuance) the following: “to
be of service to the Government of Canada when required and requested
[and] to cooperate with and render assistance to the Police, especially
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in all matters of common interest.”
It is in fulfilment of this part of our enduring mission that I am
writing to you today.
In our view, the next Commissioner will be the most consequential
Commissioner since Commissioner A. B. Perry who served a century ago
(1900-1923). Commissioner Perry led the transformation of the North West
Mounted Police, which in 1900 was a tiny frontier force in the Canadian
Prairie West and the Yukon, into the national law enforcement agency
known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that was created by a new Act
of Parliament in 1920.
Like Commissioner Perry one hundred years ago, the next Commissioner
will have to be a transformational leader in order to succeed. We agree
with the Minister of Public Safety’s message to all RCMP Members and
Employees on June 29, 2017, when he stated the “new Commissioner will
face big challenges and high expectations. While Canadians deeply
respect the heritage and traditions of the RCMP, they also look to the
new Commissioner to modernize the Force and to make it an institution of
which we can be even more proud. This is in addition to the significant
responsibility involved with overseeing the regular, day-to-day
management of the RCMP, as it continues to adapt to the ever-evolving
challenges of policing.’
The Minister noted the “Government will be searching both within and
outside the RCMP for the person with the strongest leadership skills.”
The Appointment Opportunity message of July 7, 2017, noted that the only
requirement, beyond relocation to the National Capital Region and
willingness to travel throughout Canada and occasionally abroad, is that
the person must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
Leaving aside the issue of a non-Canadian citizen becoming the
Commissioner of the Force (which we do not agree with), we believe that
an additional requirement be that the next Commissioner is serving or
has served as a Member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
As Veterans of the Force we well know that to appoint a Commissioner
from outside the RCMP would be a mistake, given the challenges that must
be faced and the urgent need to repair the damage to morale and esprit
de corps that has been sustained and to restore the trust of the rank
and file Members and Employees in the senior leadership of the Force.
Without seeking to impinge on the prerogative of the
Governor-in-Council, we believe there are legal and operational reasons
to select a Commissioner from “within” the Force.
Legally-speaking, subsection 5(1) of the RCMP Act states that the
“Governor-in-Council may appoint an officer, to be known as the
Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to hold office during
pleasure, who, under the direction of the Minister, has the control and
management of the Force and all matters connected with the Force.”
Under Section 2 the term “officer” includes a “member” appointed under
section 5, and “member” means “any person who has been appointed under
section 5 or subsection 6(3) or (4) or 7(1) and who is employed with the
Force.”
To appoint a Commissioner whose first day of being a Member in, or an
Employee of, the Force is the day that person assumes command would be
contrary to the spirit and purpose of the RCMP Act and to the “heritage
and traditions” of the Force. It would cause significant discord and
dissatisfaction, resulting in a failure of leadership. Recent history
bears out this unfortunate reality.
Operationally, given the nature of the Force as well as its unique
regimental “heritage and traditions,” an outsider would be at a
significant disadvantage to achieve the trust and acquire the support he
or she will need from the Members and Employees to effect meaningful,
sustainable and transformative change.
Yet it is still not enough that the next Commissioner be a serving or
former Member of the Force. While we agree that consideration of
bilingual proficiency and a preference for candidates of diversity
(“women, Indigenous Canadians, persons with disabilities, and members of
visible minorities”) would be ideal, these factors are of secondary
importance.
Of primary importance are the abilities stated in the Appointment
Opportunity message: ‘[a]bility to develop and implement a corporate
vision, and to provide the leadership and strategic direction required
for the organization to fulfill its mandate, while respecting the
heritage and tradition of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police;” and
“[a]bility to lead change in a complex accountability environment.’
These are the only “knowledge, skills, and abilities” which explicitly
mention “leadership” which is exactly what the RCMP requires now. No
academic report, management theory or corporate governance model can
substitute for leadership in an organization as unique as the RCMP.
Under “Education and Experience” the Appointment Opportunity message notes that
“experience as a leader in a complex, decentralized organization would
be considered an asset.” We disagree. We consider this as a requirement,
not an asset. As others have noted time and time again, there is no
other “complex and decentralized organization” quite like the RCMP. This
is why it is so important to select a proven leader from within the
Force to assume the critical role of Commissioner.
In closing, Mr McKenna, allow me to emphasize that no-one wants the next
Commissioner and the RCMP itself to succeed more than the members of
the RCMP Veterans’ Association. We are collectively proud of the Force,
and proud of our service. We wish that the serving members of the Force,
once they become Veterans themselves, will feel the same level of pride
as those who have gone before.
We stand ready to assist you and the Selection Committee if asked.
Sincerely,
Al Rivard President
cc. Hon Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety and
Emergency Preparedness cc. Deputy Commissioner Daniel Dubeau, Acting
Commissioner cc. Assistant Commissioner Stephen White, Acting Chief
Human Resources Officer
June 29, 2017
Ottawa, Ontario
Public Safety Canada
The most important responsibility of any government is to ensure the
safety and security of its citizens. In Canada, under the leadership of
its Commissioner, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) plays a
central role in helping the Government fulfill this responsibility.
Today, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and
Emergency Preparedness, provided an update on the process underway to
select a new RCMP Commissioner. Mr. Frank McKenna will chair the
Selection Committee responsible for developing and recommending a list
of highly qualified candidates for the Minister’s consideration, and
based upon which he will make his recommendation to the Prime Minister.
The full list of Committee members and their Terms of Reference will be
announced shortly.
A Notice of Appointment Opportunity will be posted in the coming
weeks. Applications will be reviewed and highly qualified applicants who
best meet the selection criteria will be invited to an interview and
further assessments. These candidates will need to advance the
government’s critical priorities of a nation-to-nation reconciliation
process with Indigenous peoples, its commitment to gender equity,
supporting employees suffering from mental health-related illness,
addressing harassment in the workplace, and protecting Canadians’ civil
liberties.
The Government of Canada intends to move promptly in announcing the
name of the new Commissioner. In the interim, Deputy Commissioner Daniel
Dubeau will assume the role of Acting Commissioner, in accordance with
Section 15 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.
Commissioner Bob Paulson will officially retire from the RCMP on June
30, after more than 30 years of service and dedication. Over the course
of his tenure, Commissioner Paulson made significant contributions,
including: advocating for a modernized RCMP; taking steps to better
protect first responders and Canadians by prioritizing the national
roll-out of naloxone kits for use on police and citizens exposed to
fentanyl; being instrumental in the Merlo–Davidson class action
harassment settlement announced in October 2016; and advocating for the
mental health and well-being of RCMP employees, launching a five-year
mental health strategy in 2014.
Quotes
“The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring an
open, transparent and merit-based process in selecting the new RCMP
Commissioner. The individual selected will need to demonstrate exemplary
leadership qualities to advance the RCMP’s efforts in addressing
important issues of mental health and harassment in the workplace, while
affirming the highest degree of public confidence in this world-class
police service. The Government recognizes the importance of the heritage
and tradition of the RCMP, as well as the need to modernize the Force –
enabling it to more effectively address long-term issues.”
- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
“I would like to thank Commissioner Paulson for his
contributions during his more than 30 years of service with the RCMP. He
has had an outstanding career in policing, including positions ranging
from front-line policing, major crimes and unsolved homicides,
Aboriginal and community policing, and serious and organized crime. As
the Commissioner he demonstrated his dedication to both the institution
of the RCMP and in the protection of Canadian communities.”
- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Quick Facts
In February 2016,
the Government of Canada adopted a new, more rigorous approach to
Governor in Council (GiC) appointments, such as the Commissioner of the
RCMP.
This approach supports open, transparent and merit-based selection processes that are open to all Canadians.
Candidates must be able to perform their duties with integrity and the highest levels of ethical behaviour and professionalism.
Contacts
Scott Bardsley
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-998-5681
Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
media@ps-sp.gc.ca
RCMP’s Bob Paulson sounds alarm on organized crime in exit interview
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson poses for a portrait in a 1956 RCMP Ford highway patrol car June 28, 2017 in Ottawa. Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
Laura Stone Ottawa
Canada's top cop – a police commander
known for his hard stand on terrorism investigations – is heading for
the exit gates saying that organized crime is the biggest threat facing
Canadians.
While Bob Paulson, the
exiting RCMP Commissioner, acknowledged the possibility of Islamic
State-inspired attacks is now an ever-present reality in Canada, he said
such national security risks are "significantly less" of a threat than
organized crime.
"It's something
that we're going to have to turn our minds to, and when I say we, I mean
everybody," Mr. Paulson, who retires on Friday after 32 years in
policing, said in an exclusive exit interview with
"Without
being a fear monger, we've got to have political leaders understand
what organized crime is, how [the perpetrators] get their advantage, how
they corrupt individuals and institutions, how they get their hooks
into people."
Mr.
Paulson said the national police force has noticed a resurgence in
outlaw motorcycle gangs, such as the Hells Angels, across Canada. Mr.
Paulson himself is on the record saying he almost depleted the supply of
federal detectives specializing in Mafia and biker-gang investigations
to national-security squads following the 2014 slayings of Canadian
soldiers near Parliament Hill in Ottawa and in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
Que.
"National security gets
Canadians worried, right? But I think, objectively, the risk is
significantly less of impacting a Canadian than is organized crime in
terms of … its corrupting potential in politics, its pervasiveness
across all areas of commerce," he said.
While
Mr. Paulson said Islamic State terrorism remains a "viable, inspiring
movement," he said he had not been briefed on any "active threats" for
Canada Day festivities on Parliament Hill.
His
replacement has yet to be named. The Liberal government announced on
Thursday that former ambassador and premier Frank McKenna will chair the
selection committee and make recommendations to Public Safety Minister
Ralph Goodale. In the meantime, Daniel Dubeau, the force's most senior
deputy commissioner, will become interim commissioner.
Mr. Paulson, who turns 59 in September, believes the next leader should be a Mountie.
"I think it should be a cop from inside the organization," he said. "But nobody's asking me."
Sitting
in the atrium of the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa's southwest a few days
before his retirement, Mr. Paulson appeared unafraid to speak to his
mind about his 5 1/2 years as commissioner of the 30,000-person force.
"It's a soul-destroying job," he said.
Mr. Paulson discussed the challenges he faced at the helm of a force that he contends is unfairly politicized.
"A
government is arguably vulnerable to our conduct. And so many people
see paths to the government through the organization, and that makes it
very difficult."
He also spoke about the deaths of three RCMP officers, murdered by gunman Justin Bourque in June, 2014, in Moncton.
The
RCMP is facing four labour-code charges relating to the deaths of the
officers, with one RCMP corporal telling the media last week that he
considers Mr. Paulson "personally responsible for the deaths of my
friends."
The criticism came after
Mr. Paulson testified at the trial that RCMP management had concerns
about the possible militarization of the force as it prepared to arm
officers with high-powered carbine rifles.
"I
am accountable for the death of those officers," Mr. Paulson said.
"There's only one person responsible for their death. And he was charged
and convicted of three counts of murder.
"I didn't kill these people."
Mr.
Paulson said it's "speculative, at best" to suggest the officers would
have survived if they'd been armed with high-powered carbine rifles. He
said the real issue is community-based policing, going so far as to
suggest that tragedy may have been averted had the officers in the
Moncton detachment known their community better.
"We
ought to have known who Bourque was; we ought to have known what he was
doing; we ought to have been positioned to be able to intercede before
he came out of his trailer," he said.
Mr. Paulson questioned whether the Mounties should be prosecuted under the Labour Code at all.
"I
have views about … the public interest being served by this. But I
mean, that's okay. We charge people all the time. I'm sure they feel the
same way."
He also shared his
opinion about the government's plan to legalize marijuana, calling it
"very enlightened"; the Mike Duffy investigation, which he said created a
"salutary effect" on the Senate; and The Globe's Unfounded
investigation, which he said changes the approach to sexual-assault
victims.
"The challenge for our
investigators is to stop having judgment [of the victims]," Mr. Paulson
said. "We don't care that you have strong feelings about how much risk
someone exposed themselves to. That's not your job."
He
said he supports the push for significant changes to the structure of
the force, including better labour representation for members and the
move to put trained civilians in key operational roles.
"Being
a police officer, a basic police officer, it's not that complicated,"
Mr. Paulson said. "Being a successful part of a team that's doing police
work, that's a little more complicated."
Calling
it a privilege and honour to have served with the RCMP, Mr. Paulson
said: "It's a great, great place. By and large, the people are
extraordinary. They do extraordinary work."
He
gave himself a mark of 70 per cent for what he set out to do but admits
he's "come up short" on cultural change. "I say in fairness to
everybody in the force – that's generational," he said. "So maybe I'd
give myself 10 extra points there up to 80, because it started."
Mr. Paulson came into the job at what he calls a "terrible time" – the height of the so-called harassment scandal.
Last
October, he made a historic apology – one he says he wrote himself – to
thousands of female members for the way they were treated for decades
by the national police force. He also announced a $100-million
settlement for two class-action lawsuits.
"I
was always, always committed to making it right. But not just by saying
it. It took us two years to get our act together, to make sure we had a
good understanding of the full scope and scale of what we were talking
about," he said.
But he pushes back
on some characterizations of the issue. "There was not a systemic
problem of sexual harassment in the RCMP. There were some terrible,
public, disgraceful, embarrassing cases, and lawsuits, and that's all
true," he said.
When asked why it
took until 2016 to make the apology, Mr. Paulson said, "You think it's
easy getting $100-million out of the government?"
Mr.
Paulson said he has met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a couple of
times to discuss the challenges facing the force and what the government
plans to do about it. He calls Mr. Trudeau "very impressive."
"I think you underestimate him at your peril," Mr. Paulson said.
He
said the Prime Minister has shown himself to be a proponent of the
force. "As he said to me once, 'You don't forget commissioner – you guys
raised me,'" Mr. Paulson said, referring to Mr. Trudeau's upbringing as
the son of a prime minister.
"I
think this government has expressed pretty clearly that they want to be
supportive of the RCMP, that they want the RCMP to succeed, and I take
them at their word."
But Mr. Paulson himself won't be around to see it.
The
father of four children – including a 31-year-old daughter who is a
Crown prosecutor in British Columbia, and a three-year-old son – said it
is time to make way for new blood in the organization.
"I think it needs a bounce," he said.
"I wish I was the fresh commissioner coming in now, with all the things that are in place."
With a report from Colin Freeze
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COMMENTS (41)
David Raymond Amos
Oct 1
HMMM as I prepare to argue the Crown again in Federal Court I was reviewing some old articles to see any new comments published in the corporate media about the RCMP and I discovered the information found below about your republish of a Canadian Press article below.
Hence I must ask the obvious question will this comment disappear as well?
‘You are not a leader’: RCMP corporal slams Paulson’s Moncton testimony Michael Tutton The Canadian Press June 22, 2017
We have closed comments on this story for legal reasons. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions.
Lee666
Jun 29
He didn't clean up the internal rot regarding the harassement issues that still exist in the RCMP.
The Earthman
Jun 30
yes, 'look there, over there, not here!'
app_65370077
Jun 30 In reply to:
He didn't clean up the internal rot regarding the harassement issues that still exist in the RCMP.
— Lee666
Why would he, as he would have to acknowledge
the corruption in the rcmp. Female officer in Kamloops
found guilty of dealing in cocaine, a little tap on the
wrist. Murdering a 20 year old with a bullet in the
back of the head. A 15 year war vet, shot in the back
in Prince George, 4 young officer were also murdered
in Mayorthorpe AB. That smells of cover-up in my
opinion. Why would they bunch up if the didn't think
they could trust whomever was there. Smells really
rank in my opinion. People, speak out, these people
are turning Canada into a communist state, something
our fore fathers fought and died to stop. Grow a set,
Canadians.
whengoodmendonothing
Jul 1
I agree that the Ian Bush incident was totally lacking in credibility.
But you have the wrong mental image as to your communist state accusation.
The Red Serge organization was always about colonial authority.
And under the Conservatives, was drawn back to the fold.
Police don't have to be communist tools to suppress your rights and be unaccountable to citizens.
duali
Jun 29
It's mind-blowing how pervasive organized crime and conning of all kinds has become. It's almost endemic here now.
duali
Jun 30
It's
very bad timing. At a time when the world seems to be teetering on
the brink of a financial explosion of some kind, there are many fronts
where leadership is either not in place or their attention is taken up
with manufactured crisis (e.g., Brexit). This is one more example, and
it happened because the transition plan wasn't in place.
JCat6
Jun 30 In reply to:
It's mind-blowing how pervasive organized crime and conning of all kinds has become. It's almost endemic here now.— duali
And that's just the government.
Taxedtooblivion
Jun 30
I
wish the Government (Federal & Provincial) would give the police
more power to deal with organized crime. Drug dealing is destroying
families. I know first hand. The police should focus less on issuing
tickets are more on taking apart drug kingpins/bikers.
app_65370077
Jun 30
That might cut into thier extra pocket
money.
kat36
Jul 1 In reply to:
I
wish the Government (Federal & Provincial) would give the police
more power to deal with organized crime. Drug dealing is destroying
families. I know first hand. The police should focus less on...— Taxedtooblivion
Charbonneau
Commission, I've been asking for the likes of this in Ontario as
Organized Crime is alive an well here and in every Province. In Ontario
lots of them are sitting on boards appointed by McGuilty and WynneGATE
ElRey4
Jun 29
We
still don't know, and probably never will, why the RCMP apparently
turned away from investigating and recommending charges against Nigel
Wright under the Parliament Act. Whose idea was that Commissioner?
whengoodmendonothing
Jun 29
Sure we know, and Paulson told us himself.
"Mr. Paulson discussed the challenges he faced at the helm of a force that he contends is unfairly politicized."
Prad Bit
Jun 29
It was Stephen "closet boy" Harper who politicized it.
whengoodmendonothing
Jun 30
More than that.
Vestiges of the colonial era.
PGTL5
Jun 30
Organized
crime have politicians in their back pockets. Blue collar criminals
also contribute financially to political parties so nothing will change
there either. Cops killing people and then being investigated by other
cops is a travesty of justice. Police should be forbidden from using
agent provocateurs to induce people to commit crimes in order to make
arrests. Get rid of all the rotten apples of which there are far too
many.
Dave_s Not Here
Jun 30
Not
to mention the "Mr. Big" scams they run down on the intellectually
challenged segment of the offending public. Even in the USA, as
repressive a regime as they have there, Mr. Big doesn't pass the sniff
test.
Richard Roskell
Jun 30 In reply to:
Organized
crime have politicians in their back pockets. Blue collar criminals
also contribute financially to political parties so nothing will change
there either. Cops killing people and then...— PGTL5
That's
a provocative statement. But if it's untrue, why do our federal
politicians spend so much time (and your money) over some terrorist in a
country 20,000 kilometers away who doesn't even know that Canada
exists.
One of the earliest cons invented was
the sleight-of-hand. Organized crime knows that you'll never agree to
them selling narcotics and weapons and human beings, while laundering
the proceeds in a safe haven like Canada. But never mind that, look! A
terrorist!
StewartBrian
Jun 29
Given
the RCMP performance in High River, illegally retaining gun registry
data, Paulson using a handgun to intimidate his daughters boyfriends etc
I'd say the RCMP is almost as bad as the criminal orgs they criticize
chaplin
Jun 30
Mr.
Paulson is correct, but the organized crime problem will never be
solved as long as the RCMP is running around providing small town
policing services. It's time for a complete overhaul of the force to
turn it into a proper 21st century national police service that is
focused on major crime, not speed traps and small town drunks.
Murphy.R
Jun 29
His name was Robert Paulson.
Rob Scott
Jun 30
“You
are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're
the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of
the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the
world.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
I've always thought the guy's name was contextually funny too...
:)
Jimbo5
Jun 30
For
anyone who wants to read an authoritative book on organized crime in
Canada, check out Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada by
Stephen Schneider (2009).
Jack Reacher
Jun 30
Money
laundering from abroad seems to be a huge problem for Canada. I think
if Canadians want their country back they had better get serious about
this matter. Allowing Chinese communist and other non democratic nations
to invest in Canada is a very bad idea and should be stopped in it's
tracks..
Richard Roskell
Jun 30
So
you're saying that money laundered in Canada by the Chinese is worse
than money laundered in Canada by organized crime based in a democratic
country. In that case you don't seem to understand the problem.
Crime
can flourish under any type of government that's willing to turn a
blind eye to it. Please ask yourself, why does the Canadian government
focus so many resources on the tiny risk of terrorism, while doing so
little to stop organized crime?
kat36
Jul 1
Quebec
people demanded and hounded Charest for the investigation on Mafia,
first day Ontario is a huge province full of it. 2012 Charest gone,
McGuilty (who construction businesses hounded him of breaching our
business information)on Twitter, Facebook and Petitions. He said to the
Media it doesn't exist here. Pulled his Twitter, prorogued and
resigned.
Last 5 minutes of Charbonneau Commission mentions white envelopes to Charest
Unions, mafia are on the inside and are sitting on many Government APPOINTED positions and the family then hired on
Red_LuckyCharms
Jun 30
Someone give him a gold star on his way out! LOL
Bye Bob.
You failed Canada Bob...according to my books.
Castigandos Castigamus
Jun 30
Paulson
should have been fired years ago. I believe that he has been
ineffectual as a leader. He doesn't seem to have resolved any of the
problems with which the RCMP is faces. The RCMP is tasked with too many
things. Firstly, we need a national police force under civilian control.
Ditch the red serge.The spy and counter-intelligence services should be
in a separate agency. The RCMP musical ride should be a ceremonial unit
and attach it to the armed forces where its paramilitary culture can
continue. The RCMP is beset by sexism, it's out of control in many
places, such as Vancouver airport and its members lack the training and
arms to protect itself and the public as in Moncton and Mayerthorpe.
Paulson as far as I can understand id nothing to solve these problems.
As with many senior public servants they are more concerned with
maximizing their pensions and ensuring that they will be interviewed
after retirement by the CBC and the G&M.
habamusrodentum
Jun 29
If
by "organised crime" he means politicians and their corrupt parties -
like Kathleen Wynne and her Merry Ministries subverting the
Constitutional rights of Canadians - then I hope we don't hear the last
of him. Maybe he needs to go to American media for real freedom of
speech. I don't expect he'll be able to say much in Canadian media.
HARROWERJL
Jul 2
While
Commissioner has acknowledged several degrading aspects with and within
the RCMP, the primary question is "what has he initiated to resolve any
of these concerns"? Has he offered any realistic solution to even one
problem be it sexual harassment? lack of sufficient weapons or body
armour? discontent within the rank & file? inadequate pay? outdated
procedures in dealing with rogue officers? let alone a realistic
approach in dealing with terrorism within Canada?
The RMP top
brass has been fully cognizant of these problems but Paulson as adhered
to the OLD method of dealing with negative problem which is to ignore
them entirely or sweep them under the carpet or tell the public a long
winded trite answer stalling having to actually dealing with these
problems. Looking at how many years pass before cases are dealt with in
courts, or actual implementing changes. Did Paulson leave a truly
realistic approach to dealing with terrorism? Likely not and never had
any intentions to do so.
Schmelter__
Jun 29
Glad to see the embarrassing cry baby is departing.
Alexis Klatt
Jun 30
Especially when money talks & everyone has their price.
Bytown
Jun 30
I'm surprised we can comment on a Liberal Party story.... ;)
Louis Desjardins
Jun 30
Please go away.
The Earthman
Jun 30
I think the real problem is how many people trust organized crime more than government is what he really wanted to say.
zzbottom
Jun 29
tough job.
thanks for your service.
Joe Dick
Jun 30
Are we talking about mass High River break and enters and property theft type of organized crime?
Are we talking about mass sexual assaults and victimization of female members type of organized crime?
Are we talking about lying to parliament about the destruction of long gun registry data, type of organized crime?
Canadians know who the largest criminal gang in this country currently is. It never used to be this way.
TillyTrillium
Jun 29
I
wasn't a big fan of the guy, but much of what he said in the interview
made supreme sense to me. I hope the government heeds his parting words
of wisdom.
whengoodmendonothing
Jun 29
Most Canadians don't understand how policing works.
A good example is the G20.
Everyone blames Bill Blair for the police fiasco when it was a FEDERAL activity under the command of Ottawa.
He gave us 2 warnings.
The Organized crime one, which should be the subject of a Globe investigative report.
Obvious to anyone paying attention.
Hello Hamilton, Montreal ...
But the one to pay closest attention to is the politicization of the force.
Again it should be obvious.
But then, Canadians believe that the Governor General is a symbolic office.
Richard Roskell
Jun 30
"...organized crime is the biggest threat facing Canadians." - RCMP Commissioner
No
DUH! But the politicians don't talk about that. (I'll leave you to
consider why.) Even though the risk to Canadians from terrorism is
microscopic by comparison, terrorism is all that the political class
wants to talk about. And spend money on. And wage war over.
The
very worst terrorists in the world couldn't care less about Canada.
We're on the other side of the planet. Most of them couldn't point us
out on a map. The people that you are most at risk from live right here
among us, and they're not going anywhere. They prey on everyone
collectively, ruining vastly greater numbers of lives than any terrorist
group could dream of.
But terrorists don't contribute to
political parties in Canada, whereas organized crime can contribute
mightily. Do you suppose that's the reason our politicians don't want to
rock the boat on domestic crime?
MarshallBarry
Jul 1
Organized crime has competition in Canada. The Governments.
RCMP at a crossroads: Who will lead the charge in an age of sophisticated crime?
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gilles Michaud is pictured on June 5, 2017 at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.
Colin Freeze Daniel Leblanc Ottawa
Gilles Michaud knows what he'd like to
do with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The police officer charged
with pursuing the country's most serious criminals has a clear vision of
where he'd like to take the force – or, at least, the 4,700 or so
uniformed officers he oversees as its deputy commissioner of federal
policing.
Deputy Commissioner
Michaud says he wants to open up new fronts to better tackle growing
criminal challenges such as outlaw bikers, criminal hackers, fentanyl
smugglers and money launderers. But to do that, he says, he needs people
who are not like him. Decades of staffing Canada's federal police force
with career Mounties have filled the ranks with generalists who can
bring broad policing skills to a range of files, he said in a frank
interview with The Globe and Mail. But in an era of increasingly complex
and sophisticated crime, the one-time drug cop says that the force
lacks much-needed specialists – people with deep investigative skills
and expertise who can dig into complicated issues.
"Do
you need to be a gun-carrying police officer to do financial-crime
investigations? Do you need to be a gun-carrying officer to do
cybercrime investigations?" Deputy Commissioner Michaud asked
rhetorically, suggesting that what the RCMP needs most right now may be
accountants, computer programmers and professional managers. "We have
lost some of our expertise," he said.
It's
not a new idea, but it remains radical and resisted within Canada's
144-year-old paramilitary force, where uniformed career cops hold sway
and every one of them starts out as a constable trained at a central
facility in Regina.
"We have no choice but to be specialized," Deputy Commissioner Michaud says.
"People's noses will be out of joint … But this is the right thing to do for the RCMP."
There's
only one problem with Deputy Commissioner Michaud's vision: He isn't
the person who can sign off on big-picture changes at the RCMP. Those
decisions rest in the hands of the force's commissioner, a position
that's now in transition. With the June 30 retirement of the current
Commissioner, Bob Paulson, the RCMP now stands at a crossroads.
It's
anticipated that the minister in charge of the Mounties, Public Safety
Minister Ralph Goodale, will announce that he has hired a former premier
and ambassador, Frank McKenna, to put together a panel to recommend a
new leader. In a recent radio interview, he hinted that the appointment
could shake up the force. "The change in command is an opportunity to
examine all dimensions of governance and structure," Mr. Goodale said.
With
a decision is expected by the new year, the real question prompted by
Commissioner Paulson's retirement is whether a facelift or a broader
overhaul is in order.
A complex set of duties
Whoever
takes the reins of the RCMP will inherit a host of challenges that
affect not only Deputy Commissioner Michaud's federal-policing personnel
but about 13,000 other uniformed officers, the vast
majority of whom provide so-called "contract policing" services in
hundreds of communities that range from tiny Arctic hamlets to major
municipalities in B.C. such as Surrey, Richmond and Burnaby.
Deputy
Commissioner Michaud's staff – mostly uniformed Mounties, but also
civilian employees – take on the issues that many Canadians associate
with the RCMP. They're complex federal-policing cases of national
importance, but records obtained by The Globe and Mail suggest that the
Mounties charged with handling them are facing new – and growing –
pressures.
The number of employees
assigned to the federal-policing file has been on a downward trajectory
for nearly a decade, even as the RCMP's contract-policing side has seen
some marginal gains. In 2010, the RCMP employed 4,922 "regular members"
in federal policing – about 250 more than it currently does. Some
civilians have since been added, but not enough to make up for the
shortfall. A strategic-planning report says this staffing shrinkage will
likely get worse, given recruiting and retention woes. (The force is
currently grappling with addressing what many describe as a misogynistic
and bullying culture; as well, pay packages offered by large municipal
forces have started to dwarf those offered by the Mounties, luring away
employees.)
During the same period,
the much larger ranks of uniformed Mounties working within the
contract-policing side of the force grew from 12,807 regular members to
13,608 – an increase of about 6 per cent. This branch also saw much more
sizable increases in civilian support.
Fewer
Mounties working federal-policing cases means more
criminal-investigation blind spots for Canada, but the force won't speak
to where it might be going dark. Yet a perusal of some public
statistics can yield some clues.
The
RCMP's federal-policing detectives can play a unique police role in
laying charges under federal statutes such as the Bankruptcy Act and the
Excise Act, which exist to punish fraudsters and smugglers. Yet charges
laid under these acts have been plummeting sharply for most of the past
decade, according to Statscan data. What this means is that the
Mounties may have bigger fish to fry, and no one else is in a position
to pick up the slack.
Staffing
crunches and complex crime files also inevitably lead the RCMP to
"internal reallocations" – an invisible, but now ingrained, habit of
depleting some investigative bureaus to feed others. Access to
Information documents obtained by The Globe put some of these practices
in sharper focus.
White-collar crime
investigations – conducted in part by RCMP-led entities known as
Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMETs), which were launched with
much hoopla in the mid-2000s – appear to have been frequently
understaffed. When the IMETs started, the Department of Justice was so
confident in the concept that it earmarked a fund to support the team's
eventual prosecutions. Over the years, the allocated sums set aside
added up to a possible pool of $19-million for prosecutors. But only
$500,000 appears to have been spent between 2005 and 2017. One possible
explanation for this is that the prosecutions never materialized due to
inadequate staffing – another representative record shows that in 2014,
the IMETs spent only two-thirds of their allotted budgets.
So
what kinds of investigations did the Mounties invest in? It appears
RCMP riches disproportionately accrued to so-called integrated
national-security teams.
Starting in
the mid-2000s, these counterterrorism squads were budgeted at a flat
$10-million cost to the RCMP each a year. But with each successive year,
the force spent more and more – reaching $57-million in 2014-15, the
last year for which statistics are available. That amounts to nearly six
times the budgeted figure. All of the extra funds came from "RCMP
internal reallocation" according to a released record.
By
September, 2014, federal-policing commanders were warning in an
internal memo that this still wasn't enough – not with the self-anointed
Islamic State's new overseas "caliphate" starting to inspire Canadian
extremists. More resources were needed still.
And
the warnings were prescient. Within weeks, two Canadian Forces soldiers
were slain by extremists in two separate incidents on Parliament Hill
and in Saint-Jean-sur-Richilieu, Que. For a brief time, then-prime
minister Stephen Harper was forced to take cover in Parliament Hill's
Centre Block, which one of the attackers stormed before being shot dead.
After
that, more than 600 RCMP federal-policing employees – a number
representing more than 10 per cent of the work force – were shifted to
the counterterrorism file, most of them pulled from the force's
serious-and-organized-crime division, which deals with cases such as
drug and mob investigations. This massive redeployment carried a major
hidden cost in terms of pre-empting or scuttling other criminal
investigations, but the full extent of it has never been described.
Records
do show that most of the Mounties who buttressed Alberta and Quebec
counterterrorism cases lingered on those files for more than a year,
whereas in Ontario and B.C., the extra RCMP ranks were pulled away
within months. These provinces likely "could no longer sustain the
reallocation of personnel because of pressures from non-[national
security] files," according to an RCMP internal memo.
But
the terrorist threat didn't go away. In August, 2016, near London,
Ont., a 23-year-old RCMP target built a suicide bomb vest while living
under a form of house arrest. It was the closest of calls – an 11th-hour
tip led a SWAT team to Aaron Driver's home, where police shot the
bomb-strapped suspect dead after he exited his house for a taxi.
To
the credit of the RCMP federal-policing branch, there were dozens of
less-dramatic police interventions in this period. Few of them resulted
in big or showy trials, but some extremists were prosecuted on
pre-emptive terrorism charges, while others were deported, and still
others were put under bail-like conditions.
But
even Deputy Commissioner Michaud suggested that it's not easy to get
the balance right. "My nightmare is there's one we know about and we
decided not to continue to pursue," he said. "And it comes to be that
that's the one that does something really bad."
For
the future, he says he wants to figure out ways to staff up the
national-security file so that Mounties don't have to leave their day
jobs when the next crisis hits. "You divert 100 or so police officers to
national security … right out of the gate, they are not as effective as
they could be because it's a new world for them."
Having
spent his 31-year career in federal-policing, Deputy Commissioner
Michaud was appointed to his current role in late 2016 and he arrived
with a lot of ambitions. In his interview with The Globe, he expressed
hopes that his detectives on the West Coast can curb the opioid influx
of Chinese-made fentanyl; that his detectives on the East Coast can
bring more outlaw biker gangs to justice; and that RCMP everywhere will
tackle human-trafficking networks, money launderers and criminal
hackers.
It's a long to-do list for
fewer than 5,000 people, and it is one made much longer by the fact that
the federal-policing branch is increasingly drawn into
non-investigative work, too. Some of its Mounties have been serving as
air marshals, or monitoring the Canada-U.S. border, or even trying their
hand at figuring out ways to deradicalize extremists.
A
growing contingent – 800 in total – also serve as glorified bodyguards
who are dispatched daily to protect the Prime Minister, his family,
cabinet ministers. This is the RCMP's "protective policing" program and
when international VIPs come to town, that's more work still. Quebec
will be hosting a G7 meeting in 2018, for example, an event that will
require "shifting resources," Deputy Commissioner Michaud says.
Speaking
about his sprawling mandate, he described a May trip he made to
Washington, where he met with some of his closest U.S. counterparts: the
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the
Secret Service and Homeland Security Investigations. "It was four
agencies that basically do the same stuff, or basically have the same
mandate, all them together, as we do," he said.
The
RCMP, by contrast, maintains a broad, wide-reaching structure that
encompasses many disparate functions. While specialized units are
sometimes established, many are later quietly dismantled or absorbed by
bigger ones.
Some ex-Mounties gripe
that contract-policing has evolved into the RCMP's real centre of
gravity, given that more than two-thirds of employees are involved in
that work. They complain that this locks the force into an institutional
mindset that leads police investigators – and future commanders – to
think of themselves as redeployable badge-wearing generalists, instead
of as sedentary specialists who might spend years on files, and who may
or may not wear uniforms.
"They
should break [the RCMP] in half," said John Sliter, a former Mountie who
advocates hiving off the contract-policing force and creating a
federal-policing agency that would operate like "FBI North." He argues
that so long as the two distinct streams exist within the same force, a
more generalist mindset will prevail, especially in matters of
recruitment and hiring. Cops who have walked a beat will be favoured
over the types of less conventional crime specialists who Deputy
Commissioner Michaud hopes to one day hire.
"Every
time that the old guard kicks in at the deputy level, they say, 'The
real value of the force – the real backbone – is the [contract-policing
employees]. And that's where we get the real cops. Don't let these
civilians run the show,' " Mr. Sliter said.
He
speaks from experience. For much of his RCMP career, he agitated to
create walled-off financial-crime squads, with high numbers of civilian
specialists. He says that dream was briefly realized in the early 2000s
when he became first commanding officer of the IMETs. But as a new
generation of commanders arrived who were more attuned to the
contract-policing world, the IMETs were sidelined. The new leadership
didn't buy into the notion of specialized investigative entities that
worked independently from one another, he said.
A
2013 expert-panel internal report on the RCMP IMETs found that much of
their funding "appears to have been reallocated to other programs,"
contrary to government policy. Meanwhile, the report found, RCMP has
struggled to recruit and hire civilians with sufficient expertise to
make a difference on investigations.
White-collar
crimes such as money laundering are among the issues that Deputy
Commissioner Michaud wants to tackle. But given the current culture of
the organization, his dream of bolstering the force with investigative
specialists and outside hires could meet with resistance – unless the
incoming commissioner buys into his vision.
"It does require a cultural shift," he said. "It's not an easy thing for an organization with 140 plus years in the making.
"I know that. And we know that. But it's a must do."
RCMP wrong in finding man shot himself: B.C.’s independent police watchdog
British Columbia’s Independent Investigations Office says RCMP in Port
Coquitlam incorrectly reported that a distraught man may have taken his
own life during a confrontation with police on June 18.
SURREY, B.C.
The Canadian Press
British
Columbia's Independent Investigations Office says RCMP in Port
Coquitlam incorrectly reported that a distraught man may have taken his
own life during a confrontation with police on June 18.
Following
an autopsy, the office says it has been determined that the injuries
suffered by the unnamed man were not self-inflicted.
A
news release from the office also says a separate investigation has
been launched into serious injuries suffered by a relative of the victim
in the hours following the shooting.
Office
spokesman Marten Youssef says that in both cases the focus of
investigators is to determine whether actions of police were lawful and
reasonable, or if any offence has been committed.
A
news release from Coquitlam RCMP issued shortly after the confrontation
on June 18 said emergency response team members found the man dead
behind a vehicle with what was believed to be a self-inflicted injury.
Youssef
says about 30 witnesses and six police officers have been interviewed
over the last week and he urged any other witnesses to contact the
office.
‘You are not a leader’: RCMP corporal slams Paulson’s Moncton testimony
RCMP
Commissioner Bob Paulson speaks to reporters as he heads from the Law
Courts in Moncton on June 15, 2017. Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Michael Tutton
The Canadian Press
An RCMP corporal who was a friend of
three murdered Mounties is publicly condemning the commissioner's
testimony last week on the killings as a clear failure of leadership.
"I
hold you personally responsible for the deaths of my friends," Cpl.
Patrick Bouchard, who worked alongside the Mounties who died during a
2014 shooting rampage in Moncton, N.B., wrote in an open letter on
Facebook.
"I hold you responsible
because you as a manager (you are not a leader) have placed money and
image ahead of the safety of the members you are sworn to protect. You
sir have failed us."
Commissioner
Bob Paulson testified last Thursday at the RCMP's trial on Labour Code
charges in the shootings that management had concerns over the possible
militarization of the force as it prepared to arm officers with
high-powered carbine rifles.
Carbine
rifles were not available to general duty officers during Justin
Bourque's shooting spree on June 4, 2014, and numerous witnesses have
testified they could have made a difference as Mounties tried to take on
Bourque's high-powered long guns with their service pistols.
However, Paulson told the court that he worried that the carbines could "distance the public from the police."
The guns were approved in 2011, but their rollout was delayed on several occasions.
Paulson
also said under oath that the RCMP needs to demonstrate the ability to
use force, but it is not central to its presence. "We have tanks, drones
and machine guns, but are we going to a shoplifter with a carbine?" he
testified.
Constables Fabrice
Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche were killed, while constables Eric
Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque targeted police
officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion.
Bouchard,
who is a 15-year-veteran of the force and is now posted in the
Miramichi area, said he worked alongside the officers and was deeply
saddened and angered by their loss. He said Paulson's testimony hit him
"like I had been punched in the gut."
He said in an interview that he doesn't
accept the logic of Paulson's arguments, and finds it difficult to
accept that the top Mountie was willing to risk officers' safety out of
worries "we'll look too mean."
"The
militarization of police is in reaction to what society is today. If you
take away police's tools to do their jobs, you cut them off at the
legs," he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
"We would use that tool appropriately, just like any tool we have at our disposal."
Bouchard said that delay was ultimately Paulson's responsibility.
"It
stayed on his desk and his was the final decision as the leader of the
organization. He could have made this happen sooner and he could have
prevented further tragedy."
The officer said the letter was sent to Paulson and he received no response.
He
said after he decided to post the letter publicly, he received dozens
of phone calls and close to 800 likes on his post — many of them from
retired and serving RCMP officers.
Paulson, who is expected to retire at the end of this month, wasn't immediately available for comment.
Another
veteran officer who was present for the commissioner's testimony said
Bouchard is far from alone in his frustration with Paulson's defence of
management's actions.
He spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing concern over repercussions for speaking publicly.
The
officer said on the day of the shooting he and his partners weren't
properly armed or trained by the force to deal with an active, outdoor
shooter.
He was particularly angered by Paulson's comment about "going to a shoplifter with a carbine."
"If
they don't have enough confidence in their members, to think we'd go
and respond to a shoplifter with a carbine, nothing more needs to be
said," he said.
"It was insulting. ... I was offended by a lot that was said."
The
officer said some officers are taking the rare step of going public
because there is a sense that senior management won't listen through
internal communication.
"They
(members of the RCMP) are frustrated, and they've had it. There's a lack
of trust toward senior management in the RCMP right now."
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Police officers direct traffic under a cloud of smoke from a wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., on May 6, 2016 JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Communications and data issues have plagued the Mounties in recent
years, putting both officers and the public at risk. Some RCMP officials
are now taking matters into their own hands, Colin Freeze and Carrie Tait report
Carrie Tait Colin Freeze
Calgary and Toronto
Fort McMurray RCMP were in the midst of
evacuating 90,000 people as last year's massive wildfire chewed through
the city when they ran out of radios. On top of that, the radio channel
overloaded and the force doesn't have a backup communication system.
Officers in the field were co-ordinating traffic, rushing children out
of schools, rescuing strays and changing plans on the fly when the
flames got too close to the escape routes – all while police were unable
to connect with the emergency headquarters.
As
the city burned, some evacuees were trapped north of town, evacuation
centres across the province were still being assembled and people were
stranded on the southbound highway because they ran out of gas. Further,
the RCMP and the federal agency designed to support the Mounties were
unable to obtain enough functioning cellphones as the
operation expanded.
Officials in
Ottawa had sent RCMP in Alberta about two dozen phones, but they could
not be used immediately. Some phones were dead. Some were locked. Some
contained data from their previous users.
Canada's top cop wasn't happy.
"We
are not operating in an environment where otherwise innocuous
bureaucratic stumbling is tolerable," RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson
wrote in an e-mail to the head of the federal procurement agency as the
fire burned out of control.
"Happening all the time and I can't accept the risk."
A police officer looks over a fire-damaged building in the Abasand neighbourhood in Fort McMurray, Alta., on May 9, 2016. Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS
E-mails
obtained by The Globe and Mail through an Access to Information request
reveal a series of missteps, with RCMP brass sharply chastising federal
officials and calling the situation risky and intolerable.
The
force had been in this position before, to deadly effect. In 2014,
three Mounties were shot and killed during a multiday rampage in Moncton
and the RCMP now faces allegations the officers did not have enough
equipment to deal with the crisis.
The
Horse River Fire in Fort McMurray revealed multiple gaps in the RCMP's
communication systems. The failures hampered communications during the
crisis and the RCMP say they put the public and the police at risk in
other emergencies as well.
Mounties
in Fort McMurray are now building their own backup system in the absence
of a national strategy. Meanwhile, the RCMP's top leaders continue to
clash with Ottawa over the procurement issues that led to the
cellphone problem.
As officials at the highest levels try
to smooth out their differences, those on the ground are organizing
themselves, said Brian Sauvé, an RCMP sergeant working to unionize the
police force.
"Ottawa needs to
accept the fact that we're cops and not public servants," he said.
Officers need the ability to communicate "24 hours a day, 365 days
a year."
Even with a compromised
communications system, Fort McMurray's Mounties and other emergency
responders safely evacuated the entire city. RCMP in Alberta delivered
extra radios, along with supplies such as food and face masks, to
officers on the ground in the northern city after the first wave of
crisis. At the same time, the provincial RCMP headquarters in Edmonton
requested dozens of phones, but it's unclear why.
An RCMP officer wears a gas mask to combat the smoke as he mans a
checkpoint on the highway to Fort McMurray, Alberta on Friday, May
6, 2016. Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Mounties have long struggled with getting the right gear to their far-flung officers.
Communications
and data issues have compounded in recent years owing to the RCMP's
fraught relationship with Shared Services Canada, the
information-technology agency created in 2011 to buy communications and
computer gear for all federal government bodies.
Police
officials, however, argue they need latitude to get their own
specialized gear without running plans through Ottawa first.
Commissioner
Paulson argued in his e-mail that Fort McMurray serves as an example of
why the current procurement system does not work.
First,
RCMP and Shared Services agreed the situation was so urgent Mounties in
Edmonton should immediately buy phones from Rogers and Bell
in Edmonton.
But then, after multiple changes to the plan, Shared Services offered to courier dozens of cellphones from Ottawa.
The
phones in the first shipment had so many problems – locked, dead or
otherwise unusable – they could not immediately be sent to Fort
McMurray. Mr. Paulson intervened with his blunt e-mail to the head of
Shared Services on May 6, 2016.
"Here is just a taste of why we need out," Commissioner Paulson said, copying a deputy minister.
Shared
Services' own review shows it quickly tried to address the crisis. It
sent the first shipment of cellular phones on May 4, 2016, arriving the
next morning, albeit with problems. Shared Services sent a second
shipment May 5. These were configured to RCMP specifications in Edmonton
and were then ready to go to Fort McMurray, along with the original
batch of phones. The agency subsequently sent another 100 cellphones, as
well as wireless hubs, aircards, upgraded Internet connectivity and
additional people to Alberta in support of RCMP efforts. (The e-mails do
not reveal whether all the equipment was used.)
In this image released by the Alberta RCMP on May 5, 2016, a police
officer walks on a road past burned down houses in Fort McMurray, Alta. AFP/Getty Images
The Mounties, in a statement Friday,
said: "The RCMP and its partners rely on critical 24/7/365, no-fail,
operational IT systems to investigate crimes and protect the public."
It
is "critical to the safety of our members because it ensures that we
can stay in contact with them when they're responding to calls and track
their location during quickly evolving situations."
The procurement and communications problems exacerbated a 2014 crisis that turned deadly.
In
that case, a gunman shot dead three RCMP officers in Moncton with an
assault rifle, and prosecutors now allege RCMP commanders failed to give
their officers enough weaponry and gear to defend themselves.
An
internal RCMP review of the Moncton killings concluded police
communications were often overloaded, unco-ordinated, absent and
confusing. It recommended implementing better radio technology and that
every serving RCMP member should be "in possession of a cellular or
satellite phone (where available) and police radio while on duty."
As
a result, the RCMP is being put on trial under labour-code laws. A new
law has been introduced to Parliament that would give federal
departments some added flexibility in information-technology
procurements through Shared Services Canada.
Meanwhile,
Fort McMurray RCMP is trying to build a backup communications system,
hoping avoid another communications crisis such as the one that hit as
chaos in the city peaked.
Superintendent
Lorna Dicks is the head of the RCMP's Fort McMurray detachment and was
in command May 3, 2016, when the fire forced tens of thousands in
northern Alberta to flee. That day, she issued a mandatory overtime
order for every available officer. In turn, 136 RCMP members clocked in.
That created the radio dilemma.
"There's
no police agency out there that is built to have everybody on staff
[deployed] at the same time," Supt. Dicks said in an interview
this week.
And the RCMP's most valuable tool when it comes to managing a crisis, Supt. Dicks said, is an effective communications network.
RCMP Inspector Kevin Kunetzki updates the media on the highway to Fort McMurray, Alta., on Saturday, May 7, 2016. Ryan Remiorz/THE CANADIAN PRESS
"Any major event that has ever happened –
it always comes down to communication and getting that information out
as fast as you possibly can," she said.
More
radios are not the answer. They cost about $10,000 each, so it is not
feasible for detachments to have enough for every member of the force at
all times, rather than enough to outfit officers on duty on routine
days, Supt. Dicks said. Further, extra radios are not helpful when the
channels are clogged or when trying to reach off-duty members in
a crisis.
Now, the detachment is
compiling a database of its members' contact information: work cell
numbers; personal cells; home phones; home e-mail addresses. Supt. Dicks
wants to build a network that would allow the detachment to send mass
texts to officers' personal cells, serving as backup communications for
the radio network.
"We could have
kept up with the immediate information flow during the emergency," she
said. "During those first few days, keeping your people in the loop and
letting them know what was going on as fast as you possibly could –
that's key."
Other RCMP detachments
have shown interest in her home-grown solution, which will be tested in
the coming weeks, Supt. Dicks said.
"A system like this would be extremely beneficial."
RCMP's Paulson testifies he worried about militarization of the force
RCMP
Commissioner Bob Paulson arrives to testify at the RCMP's trial on
violating four charges of the Canada Labour Code in Moncton, N.B., on
June 15, 2017.
Andrew Vaughan/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Kevin Bissett
MONCTON, N.B.
The Canadian Press
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson testified
Thursday that arming Mounties with high-powered carbine rifles raised
concerns for him over the possible militarization of the force and
needed to be done carefully.
On the
stand at the force's Labour Code trial in Moncton, N.B., Paulson said he
worried the weapons could create tension between the public and
officers.
While members needed to be properly equipped, the C8 carbine had to be rolled out responsibly, he said.
"It's
a delicate balancing act," he said. "We have seen situations in the
U.S. and some in Canada where this can distance the public from the
police."
The national force faces
four charges stemming from Justin Bourque's 2014 shooting rampage that
left three officers dead and two injured in Moncton. The RCMP is accused
of failing to provide the appropriate equipment and training in an
active-shooter event.
The
C8 carbine rifles — a version of an assault rifle similar to an M16 —
were not available to general duty officers during Bourque's shooting
spree on June 4, 2014, and numerous witnesses have testified they could
have made a difference.
Constables
Fabrice Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche were killed, while
constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque
targeted police officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government
rebellion.
Paulson wore a black suit
Thursday rather than his uniform for one of his final duties as
commissioner. He is scheduled to retire at the end of the month after 32
years in the force.
The small
courtroom was only about half full. Among those watching Paulson's
testimony was one of the fallen officers' wives, Nadine Larche, and
Terry McKee of the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada.
Paulson
testified he was involved in initial discussions about the introduction
of the C8 carbine, which the RCMP approved in September 2011.
He said it was not acceptable that officers were killed that June evening, but the carbine rollout was unfolding.
"The
manner in which carbines were being rolled out was reasonable," Paulson
said, who added there was no way to foresee an active outdoor shooter
event.
"What happened that day to those officers was terrible. It was an unbelievable event," Paulson said.
He
was asked by the defence if trainers should have foreseen it and
trained officers for it. Paulson said no, but added that elements of the
training were being done.
He said the RCMP needs to demonstrate the ability to use force, but it is not central to its presence.
"We have tanks, drones and machine guns, but are we going to a shoplifter with a carbine?" he said.
He
said it doesn't make sense to always be trying to match the weapons
used by criminals, and it makes sense to focus on prevention.
Paulson
said he learned of the Moncton shootings while on a flight to Vancouver
and had a conference call with officials in New Brunswick. He said he
was satisfied they were getting the support they needed. He flew to
Moncton the day after Bourque was captured.
Paulson
said he quickly enlisted retired Mountie Alphonse MacNeil to do an
independent report on the shootings and identify any shortcomings in the
force as well as take measures to prevent anything like that from
happening again.
"It's a completely
devastating set of facts our officers were asked to respond to," Paulson
said. "They responded heroically and without fail."
In
testifying at the Labour Code trial in May, MacNeil noted that the
initial response to reports of a camouflage-wearing man wielding
firearms in Moncton's north end was appropriate, with members setting up
a perimeter.
But operations then started to break down, he said.
He
said there was no "lethal force overwatch" during the first encounter
with Bourque, meaning no one was in a position to take him down when he
turned his weapon on police. MacNeil also said there was a lack of
communication.
MacNeil's 2015 report
made 64 recommendations and concluded that carbines could have made a
difference in the incident. When shots were fired, the perimeter was
abandoned because the short range of officers' duty pistols required
them to move closer to the suspect.
Crown prosecutor Paul Adams noted Paulson was very careful in the way he answered questions Thursday.
"Were you trying to avoid any RCMP responsibility on these charges?" Adams asked.
Said Paulson: "I am the commissioner of the RCMP. I am accountable for the safety of my officers."
Asked
by reporters outside court afterward why he decided to testify, Paulson
said: "I represent the RCMP. And as the accused individual — the
commissioner that's on the charge — I thought it appropriate to come and
tell my story, so I did."
Bourque
was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 75 years
after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two
counts of attempted murder.
The
Labour Code trial will resume July 4 for final arguments. Provincial
court Judge Leslie Jackson has already told lawyers he won't render a
quick decision.
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information on our commenting policies and how our community-based
moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions.
"I can't admit that," Deputy Commissioner Kevin Brosseau testified Tuesday at the RCMP's Labour Code trial.
The
RCMP is accused of failing to provide members and supervisors with the
appropriate information, instruction, equipment and training in an
active-shooter event.
Carbine rifles were not available to front
line officers during Justin Bourque's shooting rampage on June 4, 2014,
and Crown witnesses have testified the high-powered weapons could have
made a difference in the tragedy that killed three Mounties and wounded
two others.
rosseau
said he worked on the carbine program for about a year beginning in
January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the time.
He
said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen, how
they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the
public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
Brosseau
said he made several presentations about the progress of the carbine
project to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and said it
was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers was a
high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for
me and for the rest of the directorate... and needed to move forward
with haste," the defence witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton
provincial court
Source: http://ca.pressfrom.com/news/canada/-29043-mountie-rejects-officers-werent-prepared-for-shooting/
Brosseau said he worked on the carbine program for about a year
beginning in January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the
time.
He said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen,
how they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the
public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
Brosseau said he made several presentations about the progress of the
carbine project to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and
said it was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers
was a high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for me and for the rest of the
directorate... and needed to move forward with haste," the defence
witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton provincial court.
"Underlying it all, frankly, was the need to ensure and maximize officer and public safety."
Carbines have a greater range and accuracy than the officers' pistols, the trial has heard.
Under cross examination, Crown prosecutor Paul Adams noted the carbine
program was about addressing an identified gap in the firearms
capabilities of front line Mounties -- and Brosseau agreed.
He then asked Brosseau: "Would you admit that responding members and
supervisors were not appropriately equipped and trained to respond to
the active shooter event incident on June 4, 2014?"
Brosseau refused to admit that, prompting Adams to grill him on that point.
He noted the witness had told the senior executive committee that
carbines were needed for front line officers to deal with those types of
situations. Adams asked if Brosseau was contradicting his own
statements to the committee.
"Are you suggesting, nonetheless, they were properly equipped and
trained?" said Adams of the Mounties who went up against Bourque's
semi-automatic rifle and shotgun, noting they did not have carbines.
Brosseau paused and replied: "I can't admit that they weren't. It was a
horrible tragedy, no doubt. I don't know that additional training or
having a patrol carbine that day would have made a difference."
Adams then said: "No, you're not going to admit to anything, because admitting to that would be an admission of guilt."
The C8 carbine was approved in September 2011.
Brosseau, who has a master's degree in law from Harvard University,
conceded under cross examination that he has had conversations with the
RCMP's lawyers about the force's Labour Code trial and was briefed on
the evidence presented thus far before taking the stand.
Later Tuesday, an expert on the militarization of police -- which
refers to the use of military equipment, tactics and culture by law
enforcement -- was called to the stand by the defence.
Dr. Peter Kraska, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University in
Richmond, Ky., said the phenomenon can have a number of unintended
consequences, calling it "a slippery slope."
"The prevailing logic would be that this would result in increased
officer safety and public safety. I'm not saying that isn't true. I'm
just saying that in the U.S. experience, that hasn't necessarily been
the case," Kraska said.
He noted "warrior" and "survival" training has taught officers in his
country to shoot earlier, and that some officers are acting in a more
aggressive way, which can potentially create volatile situations and
erode public trust -- the very people they serve.
He pointed to the fatal April 29 shooting of a 15-year-old boy by a
Texas police officer, who fired his service rifle at a car full of
teenagers as they drove past him to leave a party.
Police had responded to a call for underage drinking when they heard gunshots outside.
Kraska conceded under cross examination that his 30 years of research
on the militarization of police examined U.S. police forces and not
Canadians ones.
But he described the U.S. as a "cautionary tale."
"(U.S.) police departments have moved down the militarization continuum
and taken tangible steps that way, which have led to a host of
unintended consequences. I'm in no way predicting that will be the case
here in Canada," said Kraska, who said he did not study the incident in
Moncton.
"I do know that... arming (general duty officers) with carbines and
military-grade armour is a significant step down the militarization
continuum and my research has shown unequivocally it's those kinds of
changes that led to significant problems."
Constables Fabrice Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche were killed,
while constables Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when
Bourque targeted police officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government
rebellion.
Bourque was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for
75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder
and two counts of attempted murder.
"The
prevailing logic would be that this would result in increased officer
safety and public safety. I'm not saying that isn't true. I'm just
saying that in the U.S. experience, that hasn't necessarily been the
case," Kraska said.
He noted "warrior" and "survival" training has
taught officers in his country to shoot earlier, and that some officers
are acting in a more aggressive way, which can potentially create
volatile situations and erode public trust — the very people they serve.
He
pointed to the fatal April 29 shooting of a 15-year-old boy by a Texas
police officer, who fired his service rifle at a car full of teenagers
as they drove past him to leave a party.
Police had responded to a call for underage drinking when they heard gunshots outside.
Kraska
conceded under cross examination that his 30 years of research on the
militarization of police examined U.S. police forces and not Canadians
ones.
But he described the U.S. as a "cautionary tale."
"(U.S.)
police departments have moved down the militarization continuum and
taken tangible steps that way, which have led to a host of unintended
consequences. I'm in no way predicting that will be the case here in
Canada," said Kraska, who said he did not study the incident in Moncton.
"I
do know that... arming (general duty officers) with carbines and
military-grade armour is a significant step down the militarization
continuum and my research has shown unequivocally it's those kinds of
changes that led to significant problems."
Constables Fabrice
Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche were killed, while constables Eric
Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque targeted police
officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion.
Bourque
was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 75 years
after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two
counts of attempted murder.
Follow (at)AlyThomson on Twitter.
Source: http://ca.pressfrom.com/news/canada/-29043-mountie-rejects-officers-werent-prepared-for-shooting/
Brosseau
said he worked on the carbine program for about a year beginning in
January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the time.
He
said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen, how
they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the
public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
Brosseau
said he made several presentations about the progress of the carbine
project to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and said it
was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers was a
high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for
me and for the rest of the directorate... and needed to move forward
with haste," the defence witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton
provincial court.
Source: http://ca.pressfrom.com/news/canada/-29043-mountie-rejects-officers-werent-prepared-for-shooting/
RCMP showed due diligence on rifles, lawyer tells Moncton massacre trial
Aly Thomson, The Canadian Press
Published Friday, May 19, 2017 10:20AM EDT
Police officers take cover behind their vehicles in Moncton, New
Brunswick, on Wednesday June 4, 2014. (AP / Moncton Times &
Transcript, Ron Ward via The Canadian Press )
MONCTON, N.B. -- The RCMP took time arming officers with high-powered
carbine rifles because it was doing "due diligence" on the deadly
weapon, a lawyer told the Labour Code trial stemming from a 2014
shooting rampage in Moncton, N.B.
"Arming general duty members with semi-automatic rifles can have
negative repercussions, including increased tensions with the public,
which in turn can lead to officer safety concerns," defence lawyer Ian
Carter told Moncton provincial court Friday.
"Carbines are designed to kill. Given what is at stake, it was
incumbent on the RCMP to analyze the issue thoroughly, not for the sake
of appearances, but for the sake of public safety."
Carbine rifles were not available to general duty officers the night of
June 4, 2014, when gunman Justin Bourque targeted RCMP officers. Crown
witnesses have testified the weapons could have made a difference in the
shootings that killed three Mounties and wounded two others.
The RCMP is accused of allegedly failing to provide members and
supervisors with the appropriate information, instruction, equipment and
training in an active-shooter event.
The force approved the C8 carbines in September 2011, and Carter said
in his opening remarks the force was studying the issue carefully.
He noted Crown witnesses have said carbines "could" have made a difference, not "would" have made a difference.
"The real issue in this case is due diligence," he told Judge Leslie Jackson.
The force also had to follow a lengthy federal procurement process, he said.
"It didn't matter how quickly the RCMP wanted those carbines, they could not break the law to do it," said Carter.
He said evidence will show the force had high quality training in place at the time of the shooting.
Carter also noted that the RCMP is not responsible for the deaths of constables Fabrice Gevaudan, Dave Ross and Doug Larche.
"Justin Bourque caused their deaths," he said, prompting Jackson to
note that the Crown also acknowledged that fact in its opening
statement.
Later Friday, retired deputy commissioner Darrell Madill testified that
an independent researcher was hired in 2009 to conduct a needs analysis
of the patrol carbine.
The 2010 independent report from Carleton University criminologist
Darryl Davies recommended immediate phase-in of carbine rifles for all
RCMP patrol officers and training for all members.
Madill said the report didn't tell the force anything it didn't already
know and lacked a proper needs analysis -- the mandate of the research.
He called it an "inventory list" of carbine programs at other forces in
North America.
"There were no risk assessments. There was no public policy
considerations... He didn't have the 'why'," Madill said, adding he
didn't feel he could take the report to his superiors as proof carbines
were necessary for general duty members.
Madill added the RCMP learned from the 2007 Tasering death of Robert
Dziekanski that independent, fact-based research was necessary to
support weaponry and bolster public confidence.
Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Paul Adams, Madill conceded
the RCMP was at the time more focused on Tasers and public fallout from
the Dziekanski death than it was on moving the carbine program along.
"You had the opportunity in your position to put that on the front
burner, but you did not," said Adams.
"How many more officers would have
to be killed before it would become a top priority?"
But Madill cited the importance of studying the carbine issue thoroughly.
"We had to have an unbiased, evidence-based review that no one could
accuse us of using our beliefs to adopt the carbine," said Madill,
reiterating that the process of adopting a new weapon for the force is
"complex" and "extraordinary."
The trial continues on Tuesday.
Gevaudan, Ross and Larche were killed, while constables Eric Dubois and
Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque targeted police officers in
hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion.
Bourque was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for
75 years after pleading guilty to three counts of first-degree murder
and two counts of attempted murder.
No one took command during gunman's 2014 Moncton rampage, RCMP trial told
Aly Thomson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Published Wednesday, May 17, 2017 11:17AM ADT
Emergency response
officers enter a residence in Moncton, N.B. on Thursday, June 5, 2014.
Mounties are reliving Justin Bourque's murder spree at an RCMP trial.
It's alleged the RCMP failed to provide members and supervisors with the
appropriate information, instruction and training in an active-shooter
event, and didn't give members the appropriate equipment.
(THE CANADIAN
PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
MONCTON, N.B. -- No one took command during a 2014 shooting rampage in
Moncton, N.B., so officers were forced to make their own decisions amid
the chaos, a retired assistant RCMP commissioner told the national
police force's Labour Code trial Wednesday.
Alphonse MacNeil, who was hired by the force to conduct an independent
review of the shootings, said few front-line supervisors were trained to
take control of such situations at the time.
He said more than 20 officers initially responded to the call, and no direction was being provided.
"You have to have control. You can't have all of those members moving
on their own," said MacNeil in Moncton provincial court. "Someone had to
be in charge. It's not a time to consult, and nobody took on that
role."
The RCMP is accused of violating the Labour Code for allegedly failing
to provide members and supervisors with the appropriate information,
instruction, equipment and training in an active-shooter event.
MacNeil noted that the initial response to reports of a
camouflage-wearing man wielding firearms in Moncton's north end was
appropriate, with members setting up a perimeter.
But operations then started to break down.
There was no "lethal force overwatch" during the first encounter with
gunman Justin Bourque, meaning no one was in a position to take him down
when he turned his weapon on police, said MacNeil.
Const. Fabrice Gevaudan -- one of three Mounties who died on the evening of June 4, 2014 -- was then fatally shot, he said.
MacNeil said there was a lack of communication, noting that no one went
on the radio to clearly indicate what had happened to Gevaudan.
"Nobody really got on the air and clearly articulated what was
happening so that responders would be well aware of the gravity of the
situation," said MacNeil, a former head of the RCMP in Nova Scotia.
MacNeil said officers had set up a staging area at a fire station, but
it was in a "hot zone." Ideally staging areas are set up further away
from the threat.
There, no one took command.
The street next to the staging area was also not immediately blocked
off, so civilians were still in the area, which affected how police
reacted to the situation, said MacNeil.
He said the lack of coordination continued after the 20-minute window
of the shootings, with members from other detachments arriving in the
early hours of June 5 unaware of where they should go.
Officers were at a tactical disadvantage during the initial response
because Bourque's semi-automatic rifle and shotgun were more powerful
than the Mounties' pistols, said MacNeil. He also said none of the
responding members had put on hard body armour.
"Both of those stood out to me as concerning," said MacNeil, the final
Crown witness in the trial. "No one went on air to say 'We're in a
shooting situation, put on your hard body armour'."
MacNeil's 2015 report -- which he was given a 90-day timeline to
complete -- made 64 recommendations and concluded that carbines could
have made a difference in the incident.
He told the court the lack of carbines was a major factor in police
tactics during the incident. When shots were fired, the perimeter was
abandoned because the short range of officers' duty pistols required
them to move closer to the suspect.
He said Const. Dave Ross -- who was fatally shot in his police cruiser
-- drove up right up to the shooter. If he had a carbine, he would have
had other options, said MacNeil.
Carbines, which Mounties have testified are effective in outdoor
active-shooter situations because of their range and accuracy, were not
available to the Mounties in Moncton at the time.
The RCMP approved the C8 carbines in September 2011, but the rollout took time.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Mark Ertel, MacNeil agreed
that it's impossible to know how arming officers with carbines would
have changed the incident.
MacNeil also reiterated to Judge Leslie Jackson that his findings were not to lay blame on any Mounties.
"This was a highly dangerous, highly emotional situation. They were doing the best they could with what they had," he said.
The defence will open its case on Friday after a break in the trial on Thursday.
Gevaudan, Ross and Const. Doug Larche were killed, while constables
Eric Dubois and Darlene Goguen were wounded when Bourque targeted police
officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government rebellion.
Bourque was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 75 years
RCMP emergency response teams were 'confused' upon arrival at Moncton shooting
In this file photo, RCMP vehicles are seen in Moncton, N.B.on Wednesday June 4, 2014. (Marc Grandmaison / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Aly Thomson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Published Tuesday, May 16, 2017 1:41PM ADT
MONCTON, N.B. -- An expert in tactical operations said emergency
response teams were "confused" when they arrived on the scene of a 2014
shooting rampage in Moncton, N.B., and did not feel they had the
appropriate firearms for the situation.
Testifying at the RCMP's Labour Code trial Tuesday, Staff Sgt. David
Lowry said the information emergency response teams had was that the
active shooter was indoors.
Lowry, who conducted an interview as part of an independent review of
the incident, said response team members would have picked different
firearms if they had the correct information.
"Because of the reality of the events on the ground, where the subject
was out in the open in an open environment, the MP5 firearm they brought
with them would not have been deemed the appropriate tactical choice,"
he said.
Lowry said carbines were cited as the appropriate weapon for the team's
response to the shooting on June 4, 2014, which killed three Mounties
and wounded two others. He said the equipment available to teams impacts
the tactics used in a situation.
The RCMP is accused of violating the Labour Code for allegedly failing
to provide members and supervisors with the appropriate information,
instruction, equipment and training in an active-shooter event.
Lowry testified that first responders were at a "tactical disadvantage"
during the shooting because Bourque had more powerful firearms.
He added that two RCMP rifles had not been serviced in years, but were nonetheless called into service.
"The servicing of a firearm and the maintenance of a firearm is a key
element to its reliability, its precision and its accuracy," Lowry said.
Earlier Tuesday, a police training expert said some of the actions of
the responding officers were consistent with their training, while
others caused him concern.
Sgt. Sam Tease was part of the team that analyzed the shooting as part
of the independent review led by retired RCMP assistant commissioner
Alphonse MacNeil.
Tease, also an expert in use of force, said the first officer who
arrived on scene did the right thing by calling for backup and
requesting a police dog, instead of entering the woods where Justin
Bourque was last spotted
He said there was initially good communication among the next wave of
officers and they took cover and concealed themselves, as per their
training.
"They were formulating a plan to contain," Tease told Moncton
provincial court on Tuesday, adding that he and his colleagues did a
walk-through of the scene as part of the review.
But Tease said he was concerned the officers did not put on body armour, which was available to them in the cruisers.
He said it appeared from radio communication that some members were not fully aware of each other's locations at the scene.
Tease said Const. Fabrice Gevaudan appeared to have been moving when an
officer called out to Bourque -- something Tease said was not ideal.
Gevaudan was shot and killed.
Tease conceded that slain Const. Doug Larche was correct in bringing a
shotgun with him to the scene, and suggested he was ambushed by Bourque.
"In an ambush, it's very hard to defend yourself," he said as Larche's wife Nadine Larche sat in the front row of the gallery.
Tease also said the patrol carbine rifle would have been the most
effective weapon to use during the initial response, based on its
accuracy and range.
MacNeil's 2015 report on the shooting spree made dozens of
recommendations, including that the force equip officers with carbines.
Carbines were not available to Moncton Mounties at the time of the shooting.
MacNeil -- the final Crown witness -- will testify at the trial on Wednesday.
rosseau
said he worked on the carbine program for about a year beginning in
January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the time.
He
said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen, how
they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the
public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
Brosseau
said he made several presentations about the progress of the carbine
project to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and said it
was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers was a
high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for
me and for the rest of the directorate... and needed to move forward
with haste," the defence witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton
provincial court
Source: http://ca.pressfrom.com/news/canada/-29043-mountie-rejects-officers-werent-prepared-for-shooting/
Brosseau
said he worked on the carbine program for about a year beginning in
January 2011 and that it was his highest concern at the time.
He
said his team conducted research on which rifle should be chosen, how
they would be deployed across the country and how to justify to the
public arming front line officers with semi-automatic rifles.
Brosseau
said he made several presentations about the progress of the carbine
project to the RCMP's senior executive committee that year, and said it
was clear to him that acquiring carbines for front line officers was a
high priority for the top brass.
"It had a very high priority for
me and for the rest of the directorate... and needed to move forward
with haste," the defence witness told Judge Leslie Jackson in Moncton
provincial court.
Source: http://ca.pressfrom.com/news/canada/-29043-mountie-rejects-officers-werent-prepared-for-shooting/
RCMPVA president's 2017 National AGM/Executive Council review
National By RCMPVA | June 22, 2017
The RCMP Veterans’ Association held its Executive
Council and Annual General Meetings on June 2, 2017, in Charlottetown,
PEI. This was the first modified AGM, held without a Convention and not
hosted by a Division. PEI Division provided invaluable assistance to
help make the event a success. The new model succeeded, and will be used
in years where no Division wishes to host a full AGM/Convention.
The AGM itself, through the means of pre-distributed
reports accepted by consent, and through e-voting, was rapidly and
efficiently conducted in 40 minutes. Three resolutions of a housekeeping
nature were adopted, and one Director was re-elected (Bob McKee –
Vancouver Division) and two others elected (James Brown – Toronto
Division; Steve Walker – Manitoba Division).
The highlight of the 2017 event was the Association
Executive Council, at which Directors, Governors and Division Presidents
debated ideas of a strategic nature for the future “Good of the
Association.”
The opening remarks and interaction with the two
keynote presenters – Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, General
(retired) Walt Natynczyk; and RCMP Chief Human Resources Officer,
Deputy Commissioner Dan Dubeau – set the stage for lively discussion.
RCMP VETERANS ARE VETERANS
Deputy Minister Natynczyk re-emphasized the fact that
former members of the RCMP are “veterans” in every sense of that word,
deserving of the VAC watchwords of “care, compassion and respect.” The
RCMP Veterans’ Association is a key stakeholder representing the
interests and promoting the concerns of RCMP Veterans. Issues such as
mental health; seamless transition to civilian life; homelessness and
veterans in crisis; disability and long-term care; and families, which
affect all veterans, RCMP veterans included, were mentioned.
MORE THAN CONNECTION, A PARTNERSHIP
Deputy Commissioner Dubeau for his part emphasized the
important partnership that now exists between the Force and the RCMP
Veterans’ Association. Working together will bring mutually beneficial
outcomes for serving Members and Employees, as they consider their lives
after leaving the Force, as well as Veterans and families. “We will all
be veterans one-day,” he said, and the Force will need to rely on the
Association to maintain connection with the Veterans once they are no
longer a part of the Force. This includes promotion of membership in the
Association as part of the discharge procedure. A strong Association
active all across Canada is vital to achieve this. He specifically
mentioned that the Force will be establishing its own Operational Stress
Injury (OSI) social support system, modelled on DND’s OSISS system and
that will benefit Members and Veterans affected by OSI.
A panel composed of representatives from RCMP National
Compensation Services (Superintendent Rich Boughen); RCMP Liaison with
VAC (Sergeant Kim Hendricken); and the RC Legion Service Bureau (Ray
McInnis) outlined the ways and means by which the services and supports
needed by RCMP Veterans and families are provided. Activities such as
mentoring, peer-to-peer counselling, mental health first aid,
Road-to-Mental-Readiness (R2MR) training, and case management with VAC,
including “My VAC Account,” were mentioned in this context.
The Commanding Officer of “L” Division, Chief
Superintendent Joanne Crampton, who hosted a luncheon, provided an
overview of the activities related to the Murdered and Missing
Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry. She re-iterated the Force’s
commitment that any Veteran who may be called to appear or testify
before the Inquiry will be provided with legal representation by the
Force.
HISTORY AND HERITAGE
The Corps Sergeant Major, Al McCambridge, was forceful
and direct in noting the important role the RCMP Veterans’ Association
plays in preserving the heritage and traditions of the Force, which can
help inspire the serving Members and contribute to the public image of
the Force, and thus help with recruiting. Activities such as the
consecration and laying-up of the Regimental Guidon, the Generational
and Territorial Service Insignia, and the Second Man Awards were cited
as examples where RCMP Veterans’ Association input, assistance and
action was sought, valued and included and which led or will lead to
mutually beneficial outcomes. The CSM is committed to re-vitalizing the
relationship between the Warrants and the RCMP Veterans’ Association
Divisions, not only in matters of history, ceremony and recognition, but
also in critical incident management, in particular activities related
to donations and regimental funeral planning for Fallen Members.
THE FUTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION
The impressive senior-leadership presenters served to
show the importance of the Association to the Veterans of tomorrow, as
well as those of today and the past. The Force is changing, and the
Association must change too to meet the need. Important strides have
been made – the re-vamping of the website; and the establishment of a
Board of Trustees for the re-named charity Maintiens Le Droit Trust
Fund with renewed purposes (pending CRA approval), to name two. More
will need to be done to capitalize on the single not-for-profit
organization structure (not 30 separate “franchises”); to optimize the
new spirit of partnership with the Force; and to make even more credible
our stakeholder status with VAC, with other veterans organizations, and
especially with RCMP Veterans who have not joined the Association or
show little interest.
Discussion at the Association Executive-level focused
on the need to rejuvenate the Association by means of re-engineering our
membership and financial business models.
How do we boost membership? Are our categories of
membership too restrictive? Are we excluding potential new members? Are
we ready and prepared to welcome all who come, and can we clearly
demonstrate the “value-added” of membership (e.g. Civilian Members)? Is
the Association financially-sustainable or do we need to consider
another funding model?
The back-and-forth that occurred will inform the new Board when it meets at the next strategic planning cycle.
AND ON TO WINNIPEG
Manitoba Division has graciously accepted to host the
next AGM in Winnipeg in May of 2018. There we will see the fruits of our
discussions in Charlottetown.
The future of our Association is bright. We have been
around for 130 years, and we are not going away. Indeed, we are more
important now than we have arguably ever been. We are seen by the Force
and by VAC as “players” and as “partners.” We will need to step up and
make our Association the best it can be to do what we were created to do
– help RCMP Veterans and their families.
Edmonton Police Chief Rod Knecht testified Tuesday about
his previous position as RCMP senior deputy commissioner in Ottawa and
his role in the carbines issue. (CBC)
A former senior RCMP officer testified Tuesday he was frustrated in
2010 with how long the national police force was taking to adopt patrol
carbines and ordered work to that end to proceed, even before the
decision was officially made by the senior executive committee.
Rod Knecht, who was the senior deputy commissioner in Ottawa at the
time, said he believed it was urgent to get better weapons for frontline
officers following the shooting deaths of four Mounties
in Mayerthorpe, Alta., in 2005.
'In my mind, it was a pretty easy decision.'
- Rod Knecht, former RCMP senior deputy commissioner
"I felt there was no need to delay it any further," said Knecht, who
approved research be conducted to identify the best model of the
semi-automatic weapon in early 2011.
"In my mind, it was a pretty easy decision.
He said he knew the actual implementation would likely take 12 to 18
months, in part because of financial constraints and training
requirements.
"I was pretty comfortable with my decision," he told the RCMP's trial
on charges of violating health and safety provisions of the Canada
Labour Code in connection with the shooting deaths of
three Moncton Mounties and wounding of two others in 2014.
Mayerthorpe fatalities had lasting impact
Knecht, who is now chief of the Edmonton Police Service, said he was
"not a big supporter of the carbines initially." He had concerns about
using such high-powered weapons in urban areas, he said.
"But I guess I became educated on the value of the carbine over time
by talking to my colleagues" and through personal experience during his
40-year policing career.
He said he realized carbines, if used properly, were superior weapons to shotguns or pistols.
Carbines were a "topical issue from time to time" over the years but
"became more of a pressing issue post-Mayerthorpe," he said.
Knecht is from Alberta and was the RCMP's second-in-command there during the Mayerthorpe shootings, the Moncton courtroom heard.
He said the events had a lasting impact on him and when he arrived at
the national headquarters in Ottawa in 2010, he was determined to speed
things along.
In early 2011, the judge presiding at an inquiry into
the Mayerthorpe shooting deaths recommended the RCMP give high priority
to carbines.
Knecht left his position of senior deputy commissioner at the end of
May 2011. He was unaware of timelines or target dates for rollout at
that time, he said.
Defence knocks consultant's report
Witness Darryl Davies, a criminology
professor at Carleton University, has been studying RCMP policing and
training for seven years. (Radio-Canada)
Earlier in the day, a lawyer defending the RCMP tried to poke holes
in a 2010 report that recommended patrol carbines be adopted
immediately.
Mark Ertel argued the RCMP rejected Carleton University
criminology Prof. Darryl Davies's recommendations because his report
failed to meet expectations — not because the force didn't believe in
protecting its officers.
When the force signed a contract with Davies in April 2009, "it's
obvious from the statement of work the RCMP wants to bring in carbines,"
Ertel said.
But Davies's report was largely anecdotal, rather than
evidence-based, and he didn't follow what was outlined in his contract,
according to Ertel.
That's why more research was needed in subsequent years as part of the force's due diligence, Ertel suggested.
The RCMP is accused of four health and safety violations under the
Canada Labour Code stemming from a shooting rampage by Justin Bourque in
June 2014 that saw three Moncton Mounties killed and two others wounded
as he walked through a Moncton neighbourhood with a high-powered
weapon.
From left, Const. Douglas James Larche, 40,
from Saint John, Const. Dave Joseph Ross, 32, from Victoriaville, Que.,
and Const. Fabrice Georges Gevaudan, 45, from Boulogne-Billancourt,
France, were killed in Moncton on June 4, 2014. (RCMP)
In his testimony Monday, Davies said his 2010 report concluded
the RCMP needed to acquire carbines for front-line officers "yesterday."
Carbines have greater range and accuracy than the shotguns used by RCMP.
Crown prosecutor Paul Adams challenged the defence lawyer's assertions during re-examination of Davies.
He said the criminologist worked closely with the RCMP's use-of-force
section for roughly a year and no one ever told him he should do things
differently.
Outside court, Davies told reporters it was only when Bob Paulson
came in as assistant commissioner of the RCMP that there was confusion
about the expectations from the report.
"There's something that's wrong and it's called incompetence in the RCMP," said Davies.
"That they wouldn't know what reports they're dealing with, they
wouldn't know what terms of reference they're using, I think it speaks
to the arrogance, it speaks to the inertia and the apathy of senior
managers, and the rank and file have a right to work in a safe
environment."
Davies said he can't go as far as saying his report would have saved
lives, but he's sure it would have started the debate over supplying
officers with carbines four years before the fatal shootings in Moncton.
The charges against the RCMP are:
Failing to provide RCMP members with appropriate use-of-force
equipment and related user training when responding to an active threat
or active shooter event.
Failing to provide RCMP members with appropriate information,
instruction and/or training to ensure their health and safety when
responding to an active threat or active shooter event in an open
environment.
Failing to provide RCMP supervisory personnel with appropriate
information, instruction and/or training to ensure the health and safety
of RCMP members when responding to an active threat or active shooter
event in an open environment.
Failing to ensure the health and safety at work of every person employed by it, namely RCMP members, was protected.
Each charge carries a maximum fine of $1 million.
The trial, which started last week, resumes on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. AT with the Crown's fifth witness.
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RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson poses for a portrait in a 1956 RCMP Ford highway patrol car June 28, 2017 in Ottawa. Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail
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