Departmental Plan 2022-23

I am pleased to present the RCMP External Review Committee’s 2022-23 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 past two years have presented government organizations with many unexpected challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ERC employees showed both resilience and adaptability to ensure the ERC is able to deliver on its mandate. ERC will continue to put the wellbeing and mental health of its employees at the forefront now more than ever as the new reality has become the normality.

In 2021-22, the ERC focused 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 year, we will prepare to meet our new service standards and to action our backlog strategies. ERC’s future staffing needs and succession planning and modernization of our processes and tools in order to attract, retain, support and empower a high-performing, healthy, safe and inclusive workforce will continue to be a priority.

I am looking forward to continue the implementation of an optimized process for the review of the backlog of case files and meeting the established service standards for cases referred to the ERC.

Charles Randall Smith
Chairperson

The ERC continues to manage 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’s orientation and training of the new staff hired as part of the permanent program integrity resources approved in the Fall of 2020 was vital in order to achieve and maintain the enhanced program capacity needed to continue to address the backlog of files awaiting review.

As of April 1, 2022, all new cases referred to the ERC are no longer added to the backlog and are subject to the new service standards introduced in 2021 (as required by the RCMP Act, s. 28.1). 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 succession planning for ERC key positions that will become vacant in the future is critical to continuity and sustained production.

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

This section contains 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, the ERC hired additional resources further to the permanent program integrity funding in the Fall of 2020, and invested in developing its new staff capacity and knowledge and ensuring strategic and efficient use of its resources to increase its case review capacity.

To ensure employees are in place who have the right skills to meet ERC needs, the ERC continues to develop its human resources planning function to better identify current and future staffing needs and to facilitate succession planning.

As of April 1, 2022, new appeal cases referred to the ERC are no longer added to the backlog and are subject to the ERC’s service standards introduced in 2021-22 which will support program management, transparency and accountability.

The reduction of the backlog of cases is paramount to ensure that the ERC can provide Findings and Recommendations in a timely manner and ensure fairness for the parties involved. To ensure the reduction of the case backlog, the ERC has developed strategies to address the backlog cases.

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 and National Police Federation 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.

The following table shows, for Independent review of RCMP employment matters, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2022–23, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

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

The following table shows, for Independent review of RCMP employment matters, budgetary spending for 2022–23, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

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

The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to fulfill this core responsibility for 2022–23 and for each of the next two fiscal years.

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

Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:

• 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