Letter to Commissioner Duheme regarding MAB’s November 2024 Quarterly Meeting

December 12, 2024

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), thank you for participating in the MAB’s Quarterly meeting in St. John’s held at RCMP Newfoundland and Labrador’s headquarters on November 27-29th, 2024. We value your insights and appreciate the participation of the RCMP’s Senior Executive Committee members.

This meeting was a terrific success, marked by an opportunity to see the various facets of B Division in-person. Just prior to the meeting’s official start, a few of our Board members participated in the RCMP’s Change of Command Ceremony marking the change in leadership from outgoing CO Jennifer Ebert to incoming CO Pat Cahill.  We are truly grateful for this opportunity.

Over the course of our time in B Division, we valued the time we spent with Assistant Commissioner Cahill, which provided us with a wealth of knowledge regarding the RCMP’s work in Newfoundland and Labrador. This was complemented by our visit to the Harbour Grace Detachment, where we interacted with staff and members who were engaged and passionate about their work. These detachment visits provide an unparalleled opportunity for MAB members to witness and increase their understanding of the day-to-day realities, challenges, and accomplishments of RCMP members delivering community safety services throughout diverse parts of our country.

Likewise, the MAB appreciated the chance to meet with Dr. Llyodetta Quaicoe, who explained the work that is being done within the RCMP’s Black Engagement Steering Committee Newfoundland and Labrador (RBESCoNL) and of the Commissioner’s Diversity Advisory Committee. Some of us even had the chance to visit the centre for Sharing our Cultures, a community organization in St. John’s of which Dr. Quaicoe is the Founder and CEO. These community-oriented opportunities are critical for the MAB to understand the work that is being done both at the grassroots level and in collaboration with the RCMP to foster a sense of civic pride, belonging, and engagement among young people across Canada, especially those whose communities have historically had strained relations with police services.

In terms of tangible outcomes from our meeting, we learned more about the RCMP’s work on Recruitment, which is a shared priority for the MAB and your management team. There appear to be some very encouraging efforts underway, particularly regarding the increase in full-time staff dedicated to recruitment, streamlining of processes, and creating content tailored to the recruitment of equity-impacted applicants, particularly First Nation, Inuit and Métis. We have confidence in the CHRO and his team and, primarily through our newly-established Advisory Council on Recruitment, we will continue advising the RCMP on how to build a robust Strategic Plan in support of the recruitment of Regular Members.

We benefitted greatly from our frank exchange on Indigenous Community Safety and are committed to continuing the dialogue with you and your management team. We are, however, seized with the importance of weighing our next steps carefully and will take the necessary time to reflect on them.

We also felt that our first discussion in what we expect to be a series of conversations about the topic of Police Operational Independence and Accountability, a key democratic principle, was constructive. We look forward to continuing to explore this complex topic at future meetings. 

We heard about the RCMP’s comprehensive efforts in relation to modernizing the RCMP’s Specialized Policing Services (SPS) program, and appreciated the opportunity to meet newly-appointed Deputy Commissioner Marie-Claude Dandenault. We support the RCMP’s ongoing efforts to think holistically when looking at the sustainability of SPS within the totality of the organization, given the role that SPS plays in supporting not just front-line and Federal Policing operations, but police services across Canada. The MAB looks forward to progress updates on this file.

On the RCMP’s continued work on police transitions (to or from the RCMP), we continue to support the RCMP in managing a file that it does not ‘own’, and reiterate our encouragement to the RCMP to record actions taken to mitigate risks. In the specific context of the transition from RCMP to the Surrey Police Service as the police of jurisdiction, we were again struck by the professionalism of all RCMP staff, including both those working at the administrative and governance levels and all RCMP regular members in Surrey. Their integrity and diligence  facilitated this unprecedented transition while ensuring public safety. We extend our heartfelt acknowledgement and appreciation to all for the work accomplished throughout this difficult period.                                                                         

During our time together, we reviewed our areas of focus to ensure we continue to meet our mandate and provide impactful advice in the upcoming year. We concluded this quarterly meeting with a clear focus on five key priorities that will ground the MAB’s work for the year ahead, which the Board believes will support transformative change at the RCMP. These priorities are those enumerated below, in no particular order:

• RCMP relationship with Indigenous communities - including Community Safety 
• Future of the RCMP - specifically the strategic connection between the modernization of contract policing, federal policing, SPS and police transitions.
• Recruitment and Retention of Regular Members - to respond to current and future needs of the RCMP and the communities it serves
• Leadership - culture, development and succession planning
• Operational Independence and Accountability of RCMP

This does not mean that we will be launching in-depth reviews of each of these subjects. Rather, these priorities will shape our meeting agendas and workplans for the coming year.

We recognize the scope, scale, and complexity of the RCMP’s policing mandate and are committed to supporting you and your team, with a view to achieving the best possible future for the RCMP and Canadians. 

I welcome hearing from you at your convenience should there be any other follow-up items from your perspective on which you would like to engage the MAB.

Finally, please allow me to close by thanking you for your engagement with the MAB throughout this past year and to wish you and yours the best for the holiday season ahead.

Sincerely,

Professor Angela Campbell
Chairperson, Management Advisory Board for the RCMP

CC: Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs;

       Deputy Minister of Public Safety Canada