Departmental Results Report 2016-17

I am pleased to present the Departmental Results Report for the RCMP External Review Committee (ERC) for 2016-17.

In delivering its appeal case review program this past fiscal year, the ERC completed reviews and issued findings and recommendations for 38 files. The cases included decisions to dismiss RCMP members for misconduct, decisions regarding harassment and grievances involving significant monetary consequences to members, all critical issues for RCMP members and for the Force.

The number of files referred to the ERC from the RCMP each year is now more than double historical rates. The significant increase in case load has resulted in critical capacity challenges for the ERC.

Timeliness of case reviews is essential to the ERC's program integrity. The ERC continues to focus on enhancing its case review processes to improve efficiencies. We also actively manage our increasing case load to improve our performance and to ensure the best allocation of our resources to the cases we receive. Efficiency improvements alone, however, will not address the current and anticipated timeliness pressures on the ERC.

The ERC will continue to work with the portfolio department and central agencies to address program requirements. We remain committed to excellence in the quality of our substantive work and the services we deliver to RCMP members and the Force as the national police service.

Elizabeth M. Walker
Chair

For more information on the department's plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) External Review Committee (ERC) contributes to fair and equitable labour relations and accountability within the RCMP through its independent and impartial review of appeal case files. The ERC issues findings and recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP for final decisions to be made in appeals regarding critically important matters (e.g. appeals of decisions in harassment complaints, and of decisions to dismiss or demote an RCMP member for contravention of the RCMP Code of Conduct, to stop a member's pay and allowances when a member has been suspended from duty or to discharge a member for poor performance). The RCMP is required to refer appeal case files to the ERC for its review, findings and recommendations pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regulations.

The ERC plays a crucial role in certain RCMP employment and labour relations matters through its independent reviews, findings and recommendations for final decisions in appeal cases. As a quasi-judicial tribunal, the ERC applies the rule of law and supports transparency, fairness and impartiality in RCMP processes and decision-making. The ERC is the only independent review mechanism available to RCMP members for the cases that are referred to it, other than the courts.

Once the ERC has reviewed a case, it issues findings and recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP for a final decision. The Commissioner (or a delegate) is not bound to follow the recommendations of the ERC but the Commissioner must provide reasons in writing if the recommendations of the ERC are not followed.

In discharging its reviews of referred files, the ERC's work also supports management and organizational performance in the RCMP more broadly. By helping to ensure that applicable law and human rights are respected in the Force's workplace practices, the ERC plays a role in maintaining public confidence in the RCMP and in reinforcing a culture of professional responsibility and accountability.

The ERC Chair reports to Parliament annually on the activities of the ERC and its recommendations, through the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

For more general information about the ERC, see the “Supplementary information” section of this report.

The current legislation governing the work of the ERC came into force in late 2014 (with amendments to the RCMP Act and the RCMP Regulations). Since that time, the ERC has been simultaneously managing case file referrals under the current legislation and case file referrals under the former legacy legislation (with legacy referrals expected to continue for approximately four to five years). Over the past two years, the number of files referred to the ERC each year has more than doubled the average historical rate. We expect further increases in the numbers of files referred to the ERC in future years based on the latest data.

Over the past two years, the ERC's caseload has grown considerably – from 65 files on March 31, 2015, to 129 files on March 31, 2016 and to 173 on March 31, 2017. This growing backlog of cases is leading to significantly increased wait times for the ERC to initiate and complete its case reviews.

Temporary funding provided on an annual basis through transfers from another organization has constituted approximately 40% of the ERC operating funds for a number of years. A reliance on temporary funding limits the ability of the organization to plan for the longer term and to make full and opportune use of funds; multi-year or ongoing spending commitments for human resource or other requirements must generally be avoided.

Timeliness in completing case reviews is essential if the ERC's findings and recommendations are to have value to RCMP members and to the RCMP. For example, a decision regarding a harassment complaint that is rendered three or four years after the original complaint is not likely to have value to the RCMP members or work units concerned (e.g. people will have changed jobs and/or work locations, decided to leave the organization or retired in the interim). Until recently, the delay between the ERC's receipt of a file from the RCMP and the ERC's issuance of findings and recommendations averaged two years for legacy files. The delay has now increased to more than four years. For current legislation files received at the ERC today, delays have increased to more than a year compared to several months in the previous reporting period. These lengthy delays pose a serious risk to the substance, relevance and utility of ERC findings and recommendations.

The ERC anticipates issuing service standards for the completion of case reviews at the end of the 2017-18 (service standards are required by the RCMP Act). We anticipate that it will be challenging to set service standards that are meaningful to RCMP members, the Force and the public given the current and projected delays between the ERC's date of receipt of a file and the date the ERC is able to commence its review of a case.

The very small ERC workforce is under significant strain due to the ongoing reliance on temporary annual funding. The ERC reduced its complement of legal counsel from four to three to assist in managing the temporary funding risk for 2017-18. We also continue to focus on program improvement and close monitoring and assessment of the ERC's case workload to be able to adapt our review practices where possible to increase efficiencies. Regular engagement with the RCMP, where appropriate, helps to inform planning and risk assessment and management. The ERC continues to work with the portfolio department and central agencies regarding base and incremental funding to address program requirements.

The 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.

In 2016-17, the ERC continued to improve its delivery of case reviews. Findings and recommendations were issued for 38 cases, an improvement of 31% over the prior year and 48% over the ERC's previous five-year average annual output. The ERC achieved this level of performance while adapting its operations to review files received under the current legislation; specifically, the ERC addressed new substantive legal issues, the implications of new internal RCMP recourse procedures, new parameters for file contents and the decisions of new RCMP decision-makers. We expect new issues will continue to arise through 2017-18.

The existing and projected backlog of files awaiting review will be a continuing challenge for the organization. Notwithstanding recent efficiency gains and productivity levels, the backlog of cases at the ERC and wait times are expected to grow in the near term.

The ERC had targeted the end of 2016-17 to establish service standards for its completion of cases reviews as required by the RCMP Act. However, service standards have not yet been developed as time is needed to adequately understand the workloads associated with the full range of current legislation cases. The ERC's revised target for the publication of service standards is the end of 2017-18.

In support of RCMP member and public awareness, the ERC maintains an extensive searchable database on its website with regularly updated summaries of findings and recommendations and of RCMP Commissioner final decisions. In addition, three issues of the ERC Communiqué publication were distributed to RCMP detachments and other RCMP offices across Canada in 2016-17. Targeted engagement of RCMP labour relations stakeholders also allowed the ERC to contribute to understanding and awareness of employment issues within the Force.

Gender-based issues do arise in some of the files the ERC reviews. Gender-based issues are addressed in the course of the ERC's reviews, as required, on a case-by-case basis.

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 service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat granted the ERC an exemption from reporting on financial commitments to Internal Services as a separate program beginning in 2009-10, given the focused nature of the ERC program and the level of program resources. This Results Report therefore continues to present information indicating that the ERC has a single, distinct program, and does not provide information on Internal Services separately.

Departmental spending trend graph

The ERC's budgetary planning trend has been relatively consistent for the last several years. The base budget has been augmented through approvals of annual temporary funding representing a significant proportion of actual expenditures. For 2016-17, the operating budget included $600,001 in O&M received as a directed transfer from the RCMP.

The amounts of actual expenditures have remained generally consistent year over year. The impacts of inconsistency in the sources and the timing of the annual allocation of temporary funds to the ERC have, however, led to basic management challenges regarding expenditure planning. The ERC is continuing to work with the portfolio department and central agencies to address 2017-18 and future years' requirements.

Although the ERC had planned eight FTEs for 2017-18, the ERC reduced its complement of FTEs by one (to seven) at the outset of 2017-18 on a contingency basis, for risk mitigation purposes.

For information on the ERC's organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2017.

The ERC's financial statements [unaudited] for the year ended March 31, 2017, are available on the ERC's website.

The ERC's total expenses decreased by $11,018 in 2016-17 compared to 2015-16. The decrease in expenses is primarily due to:

• Operating expenses decreased by $36,020 mainly due to a decrease in professional services, utilities, material and supplies, and equipment spending.
• Salary expenses increased by $25,002 from $1,274,146 in 2015-16 to $1,299,148 in 2016-17. This is mainly attributed to an increase in the Treasury Board contribution rate to health and dental plan insurance (8.7% to 9.3%) and an increase in vacation pay expenses.

Segmented information in Note 9 of the Financial Statements provides the details by type of expenses.

The ERC's total liabilities decreased by $16,891 in 2016-17 compared to 2015-16. This is mainly due to a decrease in Severance Pay of $33,387 and partly offset by an increase in Vacation Pay liability of $14, 675.

The ERC's total assets increased by $5,430 in 2016-17 compared to 2015-16. This is mainly due to an increase in salary overpayments of $3,366.

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Institutional head: Elizabeth M. Walker, Chair
Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Enabling instrument: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act,R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10
Year of incorporation / commencement: 1986

The ERC's Strategic Outcome and Program Alignment Architecture of record for 2016–17 are shown below.

1. Strategic Outcome: Fair and transparent labour relations decision-making that reinforces accountability
1.1 Program: Appeal case reviews
Internal Services

The following supplementary information tables are available on the ERC's websites:

• Policy on Green Procurement
• User fees, regulatory charges and external fees

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

RCMP External Review Committee
P.O. Box 1159, Station B
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5R2
Canada

Telephone: 613-998-2134
Fax: 613-990-8969
E-mail: org@erc-cee.gc.ca
Web: http://www.erc-cee.gc.ca