Commentary
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been a source of national honour and pride for 150 years. The powerful image of brave Mounties riding majestic horses in the Great White North in pursuit of evil-doers led to many songs, stories, books, and movies.
Alas, there’s a looming possibility the RCMP has nearly reached its final gallop.
Liberal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino initiated a federal review of the RCMP last January. His mandate letter
noted he’d been asked to “conduct an assessment of contract policing in consultation with provinces, territories, municipalities, Indigenous partners and stakeholders.” The existing policing agreement, which covers almost 150 municipalities in three territories and every province except Ontario and Quebec, is set to expire in 2032.
What caused this review? The RCMP’s public image has shifted from powerful young thoroughbred to sorry old nag.
Its historical involvement as truant officers in the controversial Indian Residential School system has come under renewed
scrutiny in modern times. Allegations of racism against indigenous peoples, minorities, and women, both outside
and inside the organization, has become a public relations nightmare. A 2021 RCMP report revealed 102 self-identified indigenous members had
left the force the past three years.
Freelance journalist Jennifer Henderson’s jaw-dropping
allegation in the Halifax Examiner on June 21, 2022, that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki “made a promise” to then-Public Safety minister Bill Blair and the Prime Minister’s Office “to leverage the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020” in Nova Scotia “to get a gun control law passed” caused an avalanche of unwanted media attention, too.
This, in turn, has led to a significant drop in public support.
An April 29, 2022, EKOS Research
report found that while 85 percent of respondents “assign a high degree of importance to the RCMP’s role in keeping Canadians safe,” only 57 percent were “satisfied with how the RCMP fulfills its role in maintaining public safety.” There was a six-point drop in viewing the RCMP as an “organization with integrity” (58 to 52 percent) and a five-point drop in viewing them as “honest” (56 to 51 percent).
Robert Gordon, an emeritus criminology professor at Simon Fraser University,
told the Toronto Star that Canada should have a “federal police service,” but it shouldn’t be the RCMP. “The RCMP, by all means, they can sit in museums and perform circles on horses at fairgrounds and things like that,” he wrote in his initial email. He wisely readjusted this analysis in a follow-up email, suggesting they’re “perfectly fine when they stick to … ‘federal business lines’” like organized crime, terrorism, and border integrity.
The RCMP were prepared for this onslaught, however. Around the time of Mendicino’s announcement (or in preparation thereof), they announced a new set of reform-minded principles titled Vision 150.
“Things are changing at the RCMP,” the organization’s
website reads.
“This proud Canadian institution is evolving and modernizing to ensure excellence from coast to coast to coast. We acknowledge the mistakes of our past, and are using them to drive positive change for the future. We are an organization with a rich history, traditions and culture, and are proud of our accomplishments. However, we know much of the work ahead involves changing aspects of our culture that no longer fit with what we are trying to achieve.”
The RCMP aren’t looking for “stop-gap measures, but meaningful, long-term solutions.” Building a “safe, equitable workplace,” for instance. Dealing with “systematic racism.” Moving towards “reconciliation” with indigenous communities. Supporting “modern policing,” and improving “accountability, transparency and conduct.”
While there’s still a long way to go, it’s a start in the right direction.
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald believed the best way to utilize the North-West Mounted Police, one of the RCMP’s predecessors, “would be mounted riflemen, trained to act as cavalry ... and styled police.”
There have been attempts to dissolve the Mounties in the past. Their bravery in protecting Canadian sovereignty during the Klondike gold rush, fighting as volunteers in the First World War, and defending the nation against Bolshevism prevented this from happening. When this force merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the RCMP, it created a new defining purpose with respect to contract policing and enforcing federal criminal law.
The RCMP’s history and tradition should be preserved. They should continue to play a necessary role in the policing of our nation. Apologizing for recent mistakes and working with Ottawa to create a new vision and direction will ensure it can effectively move forward in our modern society.
As the Fort Benton Record in Montana famously
wrote in 1877, the Mounties “fetch their man every time.” With hard work and logical reforms, there’s no reason the popularized Hollywood version of this motto, “they always get their man,” can’t make a triumphant return.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
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