Taking on the ‘old boys’
NEW RCMP HEAD FACES CHALLENGE OF SHAKING UP ESTABLISHED CULTURE
When Brenda Lucki takes the helm of the 30,000-member RCMP in April, she will still be surrounded by an “old boys’ club,” many of whom are resistant to change, say some law-enforcement observers.
Her appointment alone, they say, is not enough to bring about meaningful change to a force that has been beleaguered by accusations of a toxic work environment, lack of accountability and strained relations with Indigenous communities.
“To be honest, the gender of the new commissioner, although historic, will not equate to significant cultural change unless the right conditions are created,” said Angela Workman-Stark, a professor of organizational behaviour at Athabasca University and former chief superintendent at the RCMP.
“This means having the right people on her leadership team, acknowledging and taking ownership of the behaviours that need to change, and committing to put the appropriate mechanisms in place for this to occur. The government will also need to step up and provide the requisite support; she can’t do this without additional funding. Expecting her to do otherwise is only setting her and the RCMP up for failure.”
As she took the podium Friday at the RCMP training academy in Regina, where she has been commanding officer since October 2016, Lucki pledged to do what she could to modernize the police force and ensure that its membership reflects the diverse population.
“I will not have all the answers, but I definitely plan on asking all the right questions and maybe some difficult ones,” she said. “I plan to challenge assumptions, seek explanations and better understand the reasons how we operate. This means no stone will be left unturned and, if what we find works, then we carry on until we unearth the issues that need addressing.”
Her appointment comes at a time when the RCMP has been facing accusations that its investigators in Saskatchewan were sloppy in the case of Colten Boushie, a young Cree man who was shot after an SUV he was riding in pulled onto a rural farm. A jury last month acquitted Gerald Stanley, 56, of seconddegree murder, prompting protests across the country.
The conduct of those officers is now the subject of an investigation by the independent Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, which will examine whether any police actions amounted to racial discrimination.
Internally, Lucki will be pressed to deal with increasingly strained labour relations and growing complaints from officers who work in contract policing that they are being stretched thin and that their salaries pale in comparison to their municipal counterparts.
Meanwhile, more than 2,500 current and former female members of the RCMP have filed claims for compensation stemming from the settlement in 2016 of two proposed class-action lawsuits that alleged systemic genderbased harassment and discrimination within the force. An original deadline of Feb. 8 for women to file claims was extended to May 22 because of the sheer volume of claims.
In announcing Lucki’s appointment Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the “deep challenges” that exist, which is why “we took our time to get this right.”
Trudeau said he was confident Lucki’s 32-year career in the RCMP — which has taken her from Alberta to Quebec and the former Yugoslavia — as well as her work to improve relations with Indigenous people in northern Manitoba, would help “restore the RCMP to the full position of trust that it really should have in the eyes of all Canadians.”
“I’m very excited about being able to appoint the absolute best person for the job to be commissioner of the RCMP — who just happens to be a woman,” Trudeau said.
To some, the choice was a surprise given that Lucki, an assistant commissioner, was outranked by several rumoured candidates at the deputy commissioner level.
“She’s had a great career, but she hasn’t got a whole lot of experience when it comes to managing a large portion of the RCMP,” said Pierre-Yves Bourduas, a retired RCMP deputy commissioner. “She hasn’t sat on the senior executive committee. Now, she’ll be presiding over the senior executive committee.”
Catherine Galliford, a former RCMP spokeswoman who was among the first to speak out about a culture of bullying and harassment, said the appointment of a female commissioner “has been a long time coming.”
She said she’ll be watching closely to see if Lucki acts swiftly to deal with harassers and abusers. “That’s what people are hoping the new commissioner will do; she’ll hold people accountable for their behaviour,” she said. “Until the membership sees that, the bullying culture will continue.”
Galliford said when Lucki arrives at headquarters, she will be surrounded by former commissioner Bob Paulson’s “old boys’ club” and will likely have to create her own inner circle of “people that have her back.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind she knows about harassment first-hand.”
Galliford said the government needs to act on repeated recommendations to create some kind of civilian oversight for the force, as it has been allowed to “operate inside a bubble without accountability and transparency” for too long.
Workman-Stark agreed that a board of management or advisory group is needed, as is the engagement of outside experts in organizational culture change.
“It is unreasonable to believe that the RCMP can successfully implement change on its own, and it is equally unreasonable to place this expectation on Brenda’s shoulders, because she is a woman,” she said.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s office said the concept of civilian oversight is being reviewed. Because it would be a “massive change in the way the institution has operated,” it would require “very strong support both at the political level and publicly among Canadians.”
But Linda Duxbury, a Carleton professor specializing in organizational behaviour, cautioned that imposing civilian oversight could backfire if it’s done in a heavyhanded way.
To really fix the RCMP, Lucki will have to create a vision for change that rankand-file members buy into. In other words, it has to come from within.
“Good luck to her,” she said.
THERE’S NO DOUBT ... SHE KNOWS ABOUT HARASSMENT FIRST-HAND.