Departmental Plan 2021-22

The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M. M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

ISSN 2371-7823

I am pleased to present the RCMP External Review Committee’s 2021-22 Departmental Plan.

Through its independent and impartial reviews of appeal cases dealing with broad employment matters affecting RCMP members, including decisions in harassment complaints, conduct matters, demotion or the discharge of RCMP members due to any number of factors, the ERC helps to provide an assurance of fair and transparent recourse processes within the RCMP, ultimately contributing to the ability of the Force to serve Canadians.

The ERC’s work over the past year with the portfolio department and central agencies to address program integrity resulted in receiving additional permanent ongoing funding in the Fall of 2020.

In 2021-22, with the additional permanent ongoing funding, the ERC will prioritize the implementation of new resources and ensure ongoing training and support. The ERC will continue to focus on reducing its backlog of cases and on delivering independent reviews, findings and recommendations to serve RCMP members, managers and the Force.

With the year 2020 behind us, the ERC has overcome multiple challenges and had to refocus its resources and be creative in its strategies while making employee’s well-being and mental health a priority through this unprecedented pandemic. In spite of challenges of working remotely in accordance with public health authorities and governments recommendations, I am pleased to say that the ERC is on track to exceed the target it reached in 2019-20.

We have had many successes in 2020 and will continue to do so in 2021. With the ERC having secured additional permanent funding and allowed additional resources to be implemented, rigorous strategic examination of our backlog, and many steps have already been completed and continue to be taken to address an unsatisfactory delay in responding to member’s concerns. I believe the ERC has provided the Commissioner and her Final Adjudicators with very meaningful and thoughtful Findings and Recommendations to assist them in adjudicating their member’s cases. Year 2021-22 starts us off on facing ongoing pandemic realities and the well-being and mental health of ERC employees will continue to be one of the main priorities.

Charles Randall Smith
Chairperson

The ERC will continue to face significant operational pressures due to a backlog of files and workload projections that continue to exceed historical levels. The ERC manages two streams of case referrals from the RCMP: one under the current legislation and the other under the legacy legislation for cases commenced within the RCMP prior to November 28, 2014.

In 2021-22, the ERC will focus on the orientation and training of the new staff complement hired as part of the permanent program integrity resources approved in the Fall of 2020. This phase, and support for staff generally, will be vital to achieving and maintaining the enhanced program capacity needed to continue to address the backlog of files awaiting review.

Continuous program improvement remains a priority for the ERC and will be realized through active monitoring and management of the ERC’s caseload and case review practices. The development and publication of service delivery standards with time limits for the completion of case reviews (as required by the RCMP Act, s. 28.1) remains a priority for the ERC.

For more information on the RCMP External Review Committee’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources” section of this report.

This section contains detailed information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities.

Independent and impartial case reviews, findings and recommendations for final decisions in appeals of internal RCMP decisions in harassment complaints, conduct cases, discharges or demotions, and stoppages of pay and allowances.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee (ERC) is an independent administrative tribunal that contributes to fair and equitable labour relations and helps to reinforce accountability at all levels within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Other than the courts, the ERC is the only independent review mechanism available to RCMP members and management for labour relations matters. The ERC conducts impartial reviews of appeals of certain conduct measures imposed on RCMP members and of written decisions regarding harassment complaints, revocations of appointments, discharges, demotions and ordered stoppages of pay and allowances. Case files dealing with these matters are referred to the ERC for review by the RCMP pursuant to sections 33 and 45.15 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and section 17 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regulations. In conducting its reviews of referred case files, the ERC considers the entire file record that is provided by the RCMP which can include statements from members (complainants, respondents and others), video or audio records and testimony from witnesses, historical human resources file materials and other documentation. Once a review has been completed, the ERC provides findings and recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP (as the final decision maker) and to the parties. The ERC’s findings and recommendations are directed at ensuring that the general principles of administrative law and labour law are respected and that the requirements of the RCMP Act and other relevant legislation, such as the Canadian Human Rights Act, are adhered to in decision making. In some cases, the ERC makes recommendations for broader change or for actions that might be taken to address issues raised in a file (e.g., changes in RCMP policies or management practices, or additional or new training for RCMP members or managers). Access to summaries of ERC findings and recommendations and to ERC reports and discussion papers is provided to RCMP members and the public through the ERC’s website and publications, and through presentations or other outreach to RCMP members.

The ERC currently has a caseload of over 300 files under or awaiting review, which resulted in lengthy wait times for the completion of reviews following the ERC’s receipt of a referred case. In 2021-22, following the hiring of additional resources further to the permanent program integrity funding in the Fall of 2020, the ERC will invest in developing its new staff capacity and knowledge and ensuring strategic and efficient use of its resources to increase its case review capacity.

The ERC’s planned introduction of service standards in 2021-22 will support program management, transparency and accountability. An abridged copy of these service standards will be published on the ERC website.

Outreach activities will support RCMP member awareness of workplace and recourse issues (such as disseminating case review summaries to RCMP members in the ERC Communiqué publication, and through virtual presentations to RCMP officials with recourse responsibilities, managers or employee representatives). Regular dialogue with the RCMP on general program management, workload and administrative matters will continue in support of program delivery, planning and risk management.

While positioning itself to address the challenges that it will face in 2021-22, the ERC will ensure that its findings and recommendations in each case are substantively correct, clear and relevant for the parties and for the Commissioner of the RCMP.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the RCMP External Review Committee’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the RCMP External Review Committee’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the RCMP External Review Committee’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of Programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Legal Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Financial Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Real Property Management Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Acquisition Management Services

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat granted the ERC an exemption from reporting on Internal Services as a separate program beginning in 2009-10 (given the focused nature of the ERC program and associated resources). This Report, therefore, presents information based on a single ERC program and does not provide information on Internal Services separately.