MOUNTIES SAY NEW HIRING STANDARDS TAINT RCMP IMAGE
DIVERSITY TARGETS
An association that represents some of Canada’s Mounties says members have “grave reservations” about the RCMP’s recent decision to ease entrance requirements, including allowing permanent residents to apply.
The Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC) said Sunday management has caved in to political correctness and the “knee jerk” changes amount to lowering standards.
“Essentially we face operational security issues as well as serious repercussions in service delivery if we hire people to meet political vs. operational criteria,” the association said in a statement through spokesman Rob Creasser.
On the issue of allowing permanent residents to apply to become Mounties, the association asked, “As a Canadian icon, shouldn’t the national police be Canadian?”
Internal records obtained by the National Post through access-to-information legislation show when the force announced the changes in May, officials anticipated questions over whether hiring non-citizens could affect the RCMP’s image and “what the RCMP represents.”
The briefing note contains anticipated questions from media/the public and proposed responses. It says fewer young people are interested in policing careers and the force is struggling to attract “not only applicants, but also diverse applicants.”
Allowing permanent residents to apply would improve diversity and help the force deliver “culturally sensitive policing.”
The documents note the force’s senior executive committee has set recruitment targets of 30 per cent women, 20 per cent visible minorities and 10 per cent aboriginal.
Still, “RCMP recruiting standards remain very high and we continue to seek to attract the most qualified applicants from all backgrounds,” according to the documents.
Despite the new measures, the RCMP will still give priority to applicants who are Canadian citizens.
Permanent residents must have lived in Canada for at least 10 years, but if hired, they will be not be pressured to become citizens as that is a “personal choice.”
The force is also exempting more people from having to take the entrance exam, a test designed to gauge aptitude for police work.
University graduates have been exempt since June 2015. Now, they are being joined by people with two-year college diplomas.
In a further streamlining of initial screening, applicants need not prove they are physically fit. All physical testing now takes place during the 26-week program at the RCMP’s cadet training academy.
These changes were adopted in response to complaints the application process was “too long, inflexible and outdated,” the RCMP says.
Sgt. Brian Sauvé, co-chairman of the National Police Federation (NSF), another association representing some Mounties, said Sunday while the federation does not have a problem with opening up applications to permanent residents — this will help the force represent Canada’s “blend of great people” — it has serious concerns with the other changes.
All applicants should undergo aptitude and fitness evaluations before joining the training academy, he said. Without them, the force runs the risk of more people getting injured during training, as well as higher attrition rates later as recruits realize policing is not for them.