Statement by the Minister of Public Safety in response to the 2019 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

OTTAWA – May 7, 2019 – Today, following the tabling of the 2019 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, issued the following statement:

“I thank the Auditor General for the work of his office. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) accepts the Auditor General’s recommendations to strengthen the safety of its officers and is working to implement them.

The Government of Canada is committed to providing front-line officers with the equipment and training required to safely and effectively respond to a wide variety of incidents.

It has already significantly strengthened its ability to respond to critical incidents and enhance public safety through new and improved policy, equipment, training, supervision and technology. These efforts have already demonstrated improved officer safety.

Training to respond to active threats and using the patrol carbine, a short-barreled semi-automatic rifle, must now be completed by all cadets prior to leaving the RCMP’s training academy, Depot. This provides approximately 20 to 25 newly trained members into police operations each week.

The RCMP continues to make significant efforts to adapt training practices to the evolving nature of police encounters. For example, new and improved tactical training, specific to active threat response, is now mandatory for all operational RCMP officers.

I will work with my portfolio agencies as they continue to implement changes and help ensure the safety of officers and of all Canadians.”