Letter to Commissioner Duheme regarding MAB’s February 2025 Quarterly Meeting

March 27, 2025

 

Commissioner Mike Duheme 
RCMP National Headquarters 
73 Leikin Drive 
Ottawa, Ontario 
K1A 0R2

Dear Commissioner Duheme,

On behalf of the Management Advisory Board (MAB) for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), we wanted to express our gratitude for the participation of many RCMP’s Senior Executive Committee (SEC) members during our Quarterly meeting in Victoria on February 25-27th, 2025.

At the outset, I want to thank you and your team for your leadership during these unprecedented times for your organization, and our country. We also wanted to express our utmost appreciation for taking time to briefly meet with us digitally, despite not being able to attend the meeting personally for urgent operational reasons. In your absence, we greatly appreciated hearing SEC perspectives on various priority issues, including the impact of the shifting geopolitical landscape on RCMP priorities. We were particularly impressed by the pragmatic approach you are taking in light of these challenges, to maximize the benefits for the RCMP and Canada.

The Board appreciated the opportunity to meet with Mr. Clayton Pecknold, former Police Complaint Commissioner of British Columbia (2019-2024), who shared some of his personal experiences in relation to police operational independence and police accountability, a key democratic principle and a priority area for the MAB.

Another one of the MAB’s key priorities is the RCMP’s relationship with Indigenous communities. The Board was encouraged by the informative discussion they had with Superintendent Todd Preston, Detachment Commander, West Shore, and members of his team regarding the delivery of integrated police services in this large and diverse region. West Shore Detachment has introduced several promising initiatives, including the addition of an Indigenous Policing Officer dedicated to furthering the collaborative relationship between the RCMP and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. A subsequent discussion with SEC members on Indigenous Community Safety helped us to better understand the complexities of enforcing and prosecuting by-laws.

While with West Shore, some MAB members toured West Coast Marine Services. These types of engagements allow the MAB to better appreciate and understand not only the unique capabilities, but also some of the challenges experienced by the RCMP in the day-to-day provision of their services.

This meeting was highly productive and we are grateful for the valuable insights that we gained.  We thoroughly explored the theme of Leadership, including the many challenges associated with cultivating RCMP Leadership in the current landscape. The initiatives that are underway for developing and selecting leaders are encouraging, particularly the holistic approach to succession planning and leadership investment that is currently under development. We look forward to the next discussion on RCMP leadership scheduled for our Quarterly meeting in August 2025.

We appreciated the opportunity to engage with Daniel Mills, Associate Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada. It is important the MAB maintains a productive relationship with Public Safety leadership. Accordingly, this engagement afforded the MAB the opportunity to learn more about current Public Safety priorities and initiatives.

The MAB was pleased to discuss the first Management Response Action Plan (MRAP) from the RCMP in response to our October 2024 Procurement Advisory Letter. We are encouraged to see our recommendations accepted as guiding principles as the RCMP modernizes their procurement processes and look forward to regular updates. We also conducted a review of our focus areas to ensure that through our quarterly meetings and Standing Committees, we continue to meet our mandate and provide impactful advice. To this end, MAB’s Well-Being Taskforce looks forward to submitting our recommendations and report to you in the coming months and publishing that report on our website.

We concluded this Quarterly meeting with a discussion on recruiting with Jasmin Breton, Chief Human Resources Officer. Recruitment remains a shared priority, and we were encouraged by some of the successes that he shared. Through our MAB Advisory Council on Recruitment, we will continue advising and supporting the RCMP in developing a long-term strategic plan for recruitment and addressing system blockages.

In closing, please accept our individual and collective thanks for the professionalism, dedication, and commitment exhibited by the RCMP in these turbulent times.

I look forward to meeting with you at your earliest convenience to further discuss the important topics covered during our Quarterly meeting, and hear from you about your current priorities and challenges, as well as any other topics you would like to engage the MAB on.

Sincerely,

Professor Angela Campbell

Chairperson, Management Advisory Board for the RCMP

CC: Minister of Public Safety Canada

       Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada