New RCMP boss faces daunting task
As workplace challenges go, the one facing the new commissioner of the RCMP is daunting. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed last week the appointment of Brenda Lucki, a 31-year veteran of the Mounties, as the first woman to permanently take the helm of Canada’s national police force. By all accounts, Ms. Lucki is eminently qualified for the job. The new commissioner has contributed to United Nations missions in both the former Yugoslavia and in Haiti, and has served as the commanding officer of the RCMP training academy at Regina’s Depot Division since 2016.
Ms. Lucki was awarded the United Nations Force Commander’s commendation for bravery, two UN protection-forces medals and the Canadian peacekeeping service medal. Mr. Trudeau described her as an exceptional leader known for her hard work and tireless efforts to improve the status quo.
She will need to call on all those qualities to rescue the reputation of the RCMP, which has been greatly tarnished by ongoing complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination against female officers.
It’s been estimated more than 4,000 women could come forward with claims of sexual harassment or discrimination against the RCMP following the 2016 settlement of two class-action lawsuits that alleged a long history of harassment, intimidation and discrimination perpetrated by male members of the Mounties against female colleagues.
In settling the lawsuits, the federal government agreed to set aside $100 million to pay victims and family members from $10,000 to $220,000, depending on the severity of each claim. As many as 20,000 women employed by the RCMP from September 1974 to May 30, 2017, could be eligible to receive compensation. At the time, then-RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson estimated there would be roughly 1,000 claims, but that number has skyrocketed.
In her new post, Ms. Lucki has been handed an extremely hot potato: the unenviable task of cleaning up a workplace mess that has severely eroded the glorious reputation of Canada’s national police force.
“I will not have all the answers, but I definitely plan on asking all the right questions. And maybe some difficult ones,’’ the new commissioner told a gathering at the RCMP training academy in Regina shortly after her appointment.
“I plan to challenge assumptions, seek explanations and better understand the reasons how we operate. This means that no stone will be left unturned.’’ Canadians should vehemently hope Ms. Lucki is successful in promoting gender equality and halting harassment in the workplace of the national force. It would be hugely unfortunate, however, if the prime minister is under the delusion that he has solved the issue of ingrained sexism among the Mounties simply by throwing a woman at the crisis.
Institutions are notoriously resistant to change, especially paramilitary-style organizations such as the RCMP, which has been operating for decades like an Old Boys club, one in which women have been subjected to name-calling, bullying, discrimination, denial of promotion and even sexual assault.
To be successful in righting a seriously listing ship, Ms. Lucki will need a great deal of support, not just from her political masters, but from senior Mounties, the force’s rank and file and the public.
The RCMP has pledged to clean up its act and discipline those who continue to mistreat female colleagues.
In 2016, at a tearful news conference, then-commissioner Paulson vowed the “fist of God’’ would descend upon anyone who violated these promises.
If the Mounties are to get back on track, Ms. Lucki will have to be that fist.