Departmental Results Report 2019-20

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RCMP External Review Committee

2019-20

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

ISSN 2561-083X

Chairperson's message
Results at a glance and operating context
Results: what we achieved
- Core responsibility
- Internal Services
Analysis of trends in spending and human resources
Additional information
Appendix: definitions

Chairperson's message

Randall Smith

I am pleased to present the 2019-20 Departmental Results Report for the RCMP External Review Committee (ERC).

On April 11, 2019, I was appointed as Vice-Chair and on June 18, 2019, I was appointed Chairperson of the ERC.

In 2019-20, the ERC remained dedicated to providing high quality findings and recommendations. The ERC completed independent and impartial case reviews and issued findings and recommendations for 70 internal RCMP appeal cases in delivering its program this past year. The cases addressed important issues for the RCMP members involved and for the RCMP as an organization, including appeals of harassment investigation decisions and decisions related to member conduct and disciplinary matters.

The number of files awaiting review at the ERC remained a priority in 2019-20, and to help address this the ERC reviewed and improved its case file process flow and designed a process that prioritizes files that have a high impact on the RCMP and its members.

The ERC received temporary additional funding in Fall 2017 through to fiscal year 2020-21. Implementation of that program integrity funding began in late 2017 and enabled the ERC to hire and train additional resources to begin to reduce its large backlog of cases.

The ERC is committed to addressing program integrity concerns in order to serve RCMP members, managers and the Force well by delivering relevant and meaningful independent reviews, findings and recommendations. The ERC has and continues to work with the portfolio department and central agencies in addressing program integrity requirements.

I would like to reiterate my continued dedication to address the back log issues in order to continue to help the RCMP with its workplace issues by supporting fair and transparent processes and decision-making for all cases referred to the ERC.

Charles Randall Smith
Chairperson

Results at a glance and operating context

Results Achieved

Issued findings and recommendations in 70 internal RCMP appeal cases for employment and labour relations matters.
Managed two streams of appeal case referrals from the RCMP (cases under the current legislation since late 2014, and cases referred under the legacy legislation).
Posted summaries of findings and recommendations regularly and published four Communiqué reports to support awareness of RCMP workplace and recourse issues.
All financial and corporate services reporting requirements were completed.

What funds were used?

$3,132,901

Actual Spending

Who was involved?

14.9 FTEs

Actual FTEs

For more information on the RCMP External Review Committee's plans, priorities and results achieved, see the "Results: what we achieved" section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility

Independent review of RCMP employment matters

Description:
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.

Results:
Between April and July 2019, the newly Governor in Council appointed Vice-Chair was welcomed at the ERC through orientation sessions, training and on-boarding procedures. During this period, the Interim Chairperson at that time, David Paradiso, and Senior Management provided guidance which resulted in an easy transition of roles and responsibilities when in July 2019 the Vice-Chair was appointed as the ERC's Chairperson.

Through the temporary program integrity funding that ends in March 2021, the ERC has increased its resources capacity with the addition of 5 new resources during the year. Staff retention and development remain challenging given the ERC's funding situation and additional permanent funding remains a requirement for the ERC appeal case reviews program to continue to address the mounting program integrity risk. The ERC continues to work with the portfolio department and central agencies to address pressures and resource requirements for a longer-term perspective on the delivery of the appeal case review program.

The ERC has currently over 300 case files under or awaiting review. In 2019-20, the ERC completed reviews and issued findings and recommendations for 70 case files. Thirty-nine of these were issued under the current RCMP Act and 31 case files were reviewed under the legacy legislation.

Files Completed Per Year
Year	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20
Legacy	28	11	40	17	31	14	8	31
Current Legislation	0	0	0	12	7	12	15	39
Total Files Completed	28	11	40	29	38	26	23	70

The ERC's reviews, findings and recommendations support the integrity of decision-making in the individual appeal cases reviewed, accountability and the integrity of the RCMP recourse system, and a healthy RCMP workplace.

The RCMP Act requires that the Chairperson establish and make public service standards with time limits for the completion of its case reviews. The new Chairperson will establish service standards in 2020-21.

Opportunities for innovation were achieved during the 2019-20 reporting period, through the restructuring of the Registry unit and improvement of the file process flow and the design of process that prioritizes case files having a high impact on the RCMP and its members.

The searchable database on the ERC's website continues to provide access to regularly-updated summaries of ERC findings and recommendations and of RCMP Commissioner final decisions issued. Four issues of the ERC Communiqué publication – providing the most recent summaries – are also available on the ERC's website.

Results achieved
Departmental results	Performance indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	2017–18 Actual results	2018–19 Actual results	2019–20 Actual results
ERC's findings and recommendations support fair and transparent RCMP recourse processes and decision-making.	The degree to which RCMP final decisions concord with ERC recommendations, expressed as the % of the RCMP final decisions that fully agree, partly agree or do not agree with the recommendations.	Up to 100%; no specific target.	Ongoing	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	Agreed in 82%, agreed in part in 4% and disagreed in 14%
Findings and recommendations are issued in a timely manner.	% of findings and recommendations that are issued within the service standard.	100%	Spring 2020	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	Not applicable
RCMP members and the public have access to current information on the issues addressed by the ERC in its reviews.	Frequency of website postings of the latest summaries of ERC findings and recommendations and of RCMP final decisions.	100% posted within two months following the end of the quarter.	Ongoing	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	Not applicable (ERC has transitioned from PAA to DRF in 2019-20)	100%

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Planned spending	2019–20 Total authorities available for use	2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019–20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
3,414,034	3,414,034	4,168,805	3,132,901	(281,133)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2019–20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019–20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
17	14.9	(2.1)

Planned staffing was 17 FTEs following the approval of program integrity funding in Fall 2017, with 14.9 FTEs actually used during the course of 2019-20. The negative difference results from: restructuring of the organization and implementation of operational processes.

As the appeal case reviews program is the sole program of the RCMP External Review Committee, there is no information on any lower-level programs for the organization.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the RCMP External Review Committee's Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase .

Internal Services

Description

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:

Acquisition Management Services
Communication Services
Financial Management Services
Human Resources Management Services
Information Management Services
Information Technology Services
Legal Services
Material Management Services
Management and Oversight Services
Real Property 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.

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures

Departmental spending trend graph

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.

Image description

Departmental Spending Trend
Fiscal Year	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Statutory	132,988	193,367	250,590	315,014	98,974	99,045
Voted	1,443,436	2,117,840	2,882,311	2,894,153	891,795	893,444
Total	1,576,424	2,311,207	3,132,901	3,209,167	990,769	992,489

As noted in the above graph, 2020-21 is the last year of temporary funding that was allocated to the ERC in the 2017 funding allocation. In 2021-22 the funding reflected is ERC's permanent allocated budget. During the 2019-20 reporting period, the ERC has been working closely with the portfolio department and central agencies to secure additional permanent ongoing funding to support program capacity and integrity. With increased resources to deliver on its mandate in a timely and effective manner, the ERC will contribute to the integrity of the RCMP's recourse system.

Budgetary performance summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)
Core responsibilities and Internal Services	2019–20 Main Estimates	2019–20 Planned spending	2020–21 Planned spending	2021–22 Planned spending	2019–20 Total authorities available for use	2017–18 Actual spending (authorities used)	2018–19 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019–20 Actual spending (authorities used)
Independent review of RCMP employment matters	3,414,034	3,414,034	3,209,167	990,769	4,168,805	1,576,424	2,311,207	3,132,901
Subtotal	3,414,034	3,414,034	3,209,167	990,769	4,168,805	1,576,424	2,311,207	3,132,901
Internal Services*
Total	3,414,034	3,414,034	3,209,167	990,769	4,168,805	1,576,424	2,311,207	3,132,901
*The ERC is currently exempted from reporting separately on Internal Services expenditures.

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. In the Fall of fiscal year 2017-18 the ERC received temporary funding approval extending through 2020-21.

The actual expenditures amounts have remained generally consistent over the years. The increase in temporary funding in the Fall of 2017-18 enabled ERC to plan for additional expenses to support program integrity. The ERC continues to work with the portfolio department and central agencies to address its permanent funding requirements.

Actual human resources

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services
Core responsibilities and Internal Services	2017–18 Actual full-time equivalents	2018–19 Actual full-time equivalents	2019–20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019–20 Actual full-time equivalents	2020–21 Planned full-time equivalents	2021–22 Planned full-time equivalents
Independent review of RCMP employment matters	7.8	9.72	17	14.9	17	7
Subtotal	7.8	9.72	17	14.9	17	7
Internal Services*
Total	7.8	9.72	17	14.9	17	7
*The ERC is currently exempted from reporting separately on Internal Services expenditures.

With the additional temporary funding approval in late Fall 2017, the ERC revised its complement of FTEs for 2019-20 to 17, however, due to restructuring of the organization and implementation of operational processes its actual FTE complement for 2019-20 was 14.9. At year end, 16 positions were resourced in the ERC.

The ERC in 2020-21 plans to hire additional staff to increase its FTE complement to 17 to deliver its case review program.

Expenditures by vote

For information on the RCMP External Review Committee's organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2019–2020.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of the RCMP External Review Committee's spending with the Government of Canada's spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

The RCMP External Review Committee's financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on the ERC's website.

Financial statement highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020 (dollars)
Financial information	2019–20 Planned results	2019–20 Actual results	2018–19 Actual results	Difference (2019–20 Actual results minus 2019–20 Planned results)	Difference (2019–20 Actual results minus 2018–19 Actual results)
Total expenses	3,767,255	3,189,739	2,862,934	577,516	326,805
Total revenues	0	0	0	0	0
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers	3,767,255	3,189,739	2,862,934	577,516	326,805

The ERC's total expenses in 2019-20 increased by $326,805 compared to 2018-19 actual results. The increase in expenses in 2019-20 is primarily due to operating expenses in salary, equipment and communication spending.

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

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2020 (dollars)
Financial information	2019–20	2018–19	Difference (2019–20 minus 2018–19)
Total net liabilities	433,817	576,270	(142,453)
Total net financial assets	356,666	229,512	127,154
Departmental net debt	77,151	346,758	(269,607)
Total non-financial assets	0	0	0
Departmental net financial position	(77,151)	(346,758)	269,607

The ERC's total liabilities decreased by $142,453 in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19. This is mainly due to a decrease in vacation pay and compensatory leave liability.

Additional information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M, M.P.

Institutional head: Charles Randall Smith, Chairperson

Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Enabling instrument: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C 185, c. R-10

Year of incorporation / commencement: 1986

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

"Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do" is available on the RCMP External Review Committee's website.

Reporting framework

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) External Review Committee (ERC)'s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 are shown below
Departmental Results Framework	Independent review of RCMP employment matters
	Departmental Result: ERC's findings and recommendations support fair and transparent RCMP recourse processes and decision-making.	Indicator: The degree to which RCMP final decisions concord with ERC recommendations, expressed as the % of the RCMP final decisions that fully agree, partly agree or do not agree with the recommendations.
	Departmental Result: Findings and recommendations are issued in a timely manner.	Indicator: % of findings and recommendations that are issued within the service standard.
	Departmental Result: RCMP members and the public have access to current information on the issues addressed by the ERC in its reviews.	Indicator: Frequency of website postings of the latest summaries of ERC findings and recommendations and of RCMP final decisions.
Program Inventory	Appeal case reviews

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) External Review Committee (ERC)'s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) External Review Committee (ERC)'s website:

Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy

Federal tax expenditures

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.

Organizational contact information

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

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit): Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires): Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle): An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
Departmental Plan (plan ministériel): A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3-year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental priority (priorité): A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.
departmental result (résultat ministériel): A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments' immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel): A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats): A framework that connects the department's core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.
Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels): A report on a department's actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.
experimentation (expérimentation): The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.
full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein): A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full-time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person's collective agreement.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+]): An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.
government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales): For the purpose of the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the Middle Class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world.
horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale): An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires): Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
performance (rendement): What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
performance indicator (indicateur de rendement): A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement): The process of communicating evidence-based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.
plan (plan): The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues): For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates. A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.
program (programme): Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
program inventory (répertoire des programmes): Identifies all the department's programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department's core responsibilities and results.
result (résultat): A consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization's influence.
statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives): Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
target (cible): A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
voted expenditures (dépenses votées): Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.

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Date modified:: 2022-11-08

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