Government response to the Second Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts - Restoring the Honour of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP): Addressing Problems in the Administration of the RCMP's Pension and Insurance Plans

On December 10, 2007, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts submitted its Second Report to Parliament. The focus of the Committee's report was Chapter 9, Pension and Insurance Administration – Royal Canadian Mounted Police, of the November 2006 Report of the Auditor General of Canada.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the Government must provide a comprehensive response within 120 days, or by April 7, 2008. This Government Response addresses all recommendations with the exception of recommendations 4, 10, and 29 which are directed to parties outside the Government. The following provides the Government's response.

Recommendation 1

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide the Public Accounts Committee a detailed status report by March 31, 2008 on the implementation of the Auditor General's recommendations from the November 2006 Report, Chapter 9. This report should contain confirmation of whether those who participated in the golf game at St. Andrews by the Sea have reimbursed the RCMP pension fund for the benefit they inappropriately received.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and has attached, as Appendix 1 to the Government Response, a status report on the implementation of the Auditor General's recommendations from Chapter 9 of her November 2006 Report.

Recommendation 2

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police review all transactions charged against the pension plan in the fiscal years 2000-2001 through 2003-2004, and reimburse any amounts that should have been more appropriately charged elsewhere.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation. In 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) initiated reviews of the pension plan administration expenditures incurred from 2001-2002 to 2003-2004 for all transactions, with the exception of certain overhead costs, totaling approximately 97 % of all administration expenditures. Amounts inappropriately charged to the plan were reimbursed as a result of this review. A review of all pension plan administration expenditures for 2000-2001, and the balance of expenditures not reviewed for 2001-2002 to 2003-2004 is underway and will be completed by March 31, 2008, with appropriate action to follow.

Recommendation 3

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police commend Assistant Commissioner Bruce Rogerson for his efforts to put an end to the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by senior members of the RCMP; that the RCMP restore all people who were demoted or removed to their original positions as promptly as possible, if those who were demoted or removed so wish.

Response
Steps have been taken to address this recommendation. The RCMP recognizes and is grateful for the efforts of Assistant Commissioner Bruce Rogerson. The RCMP Commissioner, William Elliott, has met personally with Assistant Commissioner Rogerson to extend his appreciation on behalf of the Senior Executive and the entire organization. The RCMP is working with the other affected staff to reach mutually acceptable resolutions.

Recommendation 5

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police clarify the procedures for reporting breaches of the Code of Conduct pursuant to the RCMP Regulations and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act and the procedures for disclosing wrongdoings pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation. The RCMP is working with the Canada Public Service Agency (CPSA) in actively cross referencing the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act with the RCMP Act to ensure compliance and reporting clarity as expeditiously as possible.

Recommendation 6

The Government of Canada should amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act to allow a Royal Canadian Mounted Police member to file a complaint of reprisal with the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner, regardless of whether there are ongoing proceedings under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. Furthermore, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner and the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal should be provided with the full authority to deal with such complaints.

Recommendation 7

Any Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act proceedings against the member should be suspended until the complaint of reprisal has been dealt with under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act. Moreover, where the complaint is found to have merit, the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal should have the authority to dismiss or discontinue the RCMP Act proceedings.

Recommendation 8

Consequential amendments should be made to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to ensure that the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act prevails where an RCMP member files a complaint of reprisal with the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.

Responseto Recommendation 6, 7 and 8
The Government supports Recommendations 6, 7 and 8 in principle, and endorses the Committee's view that the reprisal complaint procedures established pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) should allow RCMP members to exercise the same options that are available to other public sector employees. These options would include the ability for an RCMP member to make a reprisal complaint to the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner that could ultimately be dealt with by the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal, as an alternative mechanism to that provided under the RCMP Act.

The Government is carefully studying this matter to clarify procedures for reprisal complaints under both the PSDPA and the RCMP Act. These recommendations will be carefully considered during the Government's review of the recommendations of the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP.

Recommendation 9

The Government of Canada amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to provide the Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee with adjudication powers whose decisions are binding and final.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered as part of the Government's on-going efforts to make the RCMP a stronger, more accountable and modern organization. The Government is consulting on this and other legislative recommendations made by the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP, and will give them full and proper consideration before further action on major reforms is decided upon.

Recommendation 11

All Royal Canadian Mounted Police members and employees with any level of contracting authority undergo specific training in the Treasury Board's Contracting Policy.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and action has been taken to address it. All employees of the RCMP with delegated signing authority must complete the Canada School of the Public Service mandatory training as indicated in the Government's Policy on Learning, Training and Development. Signing authority is not delegated until such time as the above-mentioned training is undertaken. In addition, the RCMP provides further training on areas specific to RCMP contracting and procurement.

Recommendation 12

All Government of Canada contracts include a clause that states that the contractor must act in accordance with the Treasury Board Contracting Policy.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation in principle, and it will be taken into consideration as regulations are developed to implement measures under the Federal Accountability Act and as part of Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy Suite Renewal Initiative. This initiative supports the Federal Accountability Action Plan and will result in streamlined "rules" governing federal public sector management. It will also make the Treasury Board policy instruments more targeted and accessible. By strengthening and streamlining how government works, the renewed policy suite will help make government more effective and accountable.

Recommendation 13

The Government of Canada investigate whether or not monies can be recovered from contractors or individuals who received inappropriate benefits.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and action has been taken to address it. The RCMP has reviewed the contracts in question, but given that these were binding contracts and that agreed-upon services were rendered, the RCMP has determined that pursuing the recovery of these monies is not warranted. As reported by the Office of the Auditor General, the RCMP has taken measures to strengthen its contracting control. Going forward, the RCMP will work with the Treasury Board Secretariat to ensure contracting policies and controls are in full compliance with Government standards.

Recommendation 14

The Government of Canada require all contractors and any subsequent sub-contractors to confirm that neither they nor any of their employees would be in violation of the post-employment rules as set out in the Treasury Board Contracting Policy if they were awarded a contract.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation in principle, and it will be taken into consideration as regulations are developed to implement measures under the Federal Accountability Act and as part of Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy Suite Renewal Initiative. This initiative supports the Federal Accountability Action Plan and will result in streamlined "rules" governing federal public sector management. It will also make the Treasury Board policy instruments more targeted and accessible. By strengthening and streamlining how government works, the renewed policy suite will help make government more effective and accountable.

Recommendation 15

The Government of Canada permanently bar from future contracts a contractor who has been found to have engaged in misconduct while carrying out his or her duties, or who has colluded with a public servant in committing an act of misconduct.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation in principle, and it will be taken into consideration as regulations are developed to implement measures under the Federal Accountability Act and as part of Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy Suite Renewal Initiative. This initiative supports the Federal Accountability Action Plan and will result in streamlined "rules" governing federal public sector management. It will also make the Treasury Board policy instruments more targeted and accessible. By strengthening and streamlining how government works, the renewed policy suite will help make government more effective and accountable.

Recommendation 16

The Government of Canada permanently bar from having contracting authority public servants who have been found to have engaged in misconduct in the performance of their duties or who have colluded with contractors in committing an act of misconduct.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation in principle, and it will be taken into consideration as part of Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy Suite Renewal Initiative. This initiative supports the Federal Accountability Action Plan and will result in streamlined "rules" governing federal public sector management. It will also make the Treasury Board policy instruments more targeted and accessible. By strengthening and streamlining how government works, the renewed policy suite will help make government more effective and accountable.

Recommendation 17

The Treasury Board Secretariat ensure that departments comply with the departmental reporting Guidelines so as to make sure that the Departmental Performance Reports contain balanced reporting.

Response
The Government agrees that Departmental Performance Reports should contain balanced reporting. While Ministers are ultimately accountable for their own reports, the Treasury Board Secretariat provides guidance on the preparation of Departmental Performance Reports and assesses their quality.

The Treasury Board Secretariat's guidance for the preparation of Departmental Performance Reports is based on generally accepted public reporting principles. These principles call for reports to include credible and balanced information.

By means of the Management Accountability Framework assessment process, the Treasury Board Secretariat reviews Departmental Performance Reports against the reporting principles set out in the Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines and provides feedback to departments in order to continually improve reporting to Parliament.

The Treasury Board Secretariat's efforts to support departments and agencies in the production of balanced reports also include the sharing of good practices. The Treasury Board Secretariat recently published a good practices handbook that draws on the Management Accountability Framework assessments and provides practical examples to departments and agencies on how to improve their Departmental Performance Reports.

Finally, as the Management, Resources and Results Structure Policy is implemented to support improved decision-making by Parliament and central agencies and to provide departments with the flexibility and discretion they need to design and manage their programs in a manner that best achieves results for Canadians, Treasury Board Secretariat expects departments and agencies to increase their capacity to produce credible and balanced performance information.

Recommendation 18

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police initiate a Code of Conduct investigation into the allegation that the minutes of the March 15, 2005 Insurance Committee meeting were altered.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and action has been taken to address it. The RCMP has concluded a Code of Conduct investigation into this matter. The investigation determined that there is no evidence that the minutes were altered.

Recommendation 19

The Government of Canada ask the Ontario Provincial Police to complete the investigation into the insurance plan, which should include a forensic audit, so as to fully examine the irregularities in the outsourcing of the administration of the insurance plan.

Response
The OPP, in its March 2008 report, determined that the OPS investigation of the RCMP pension plan was adequate. Further, the OPP found that there were no deliberate or intentional acts by any RCMP or investigation team member to derail or jeopardize the investigation, and that there was no evidence that information was deliberately withheld from the investigation or that outside influences were a major stumbling block. However, the OPP has recommended that an additional investigation be undertaken to determine if criminal misconduct was involved in the outsourcing of the RCMP insurance plan. This recommendation has been accepted by the RCMP Commissioner who has asked the OPP to conduct an investigation with respect to the administration of the insurance plan as identified in the report.

Recommendation 20

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide the Committee a status report by March 31, 2008 on the efforts to clarify the authorities in the administration of the RCMP's insurance plans.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and provides the following status report: In September, 2007, the RCMP received Treasury Board authority to administer the RCMP Life and Disability Insurance Plans, which includes without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the authority to charge insurance plan administration costs to the RCMP appropriations and to deduct and remit member premiums. The Treasury Board also delegated to the RCMP Commissioner, on an interim basis, the policy holder authority to execute the policies with Great-West Life. Effective April 1, 2009, Treasury Board will become the policyholder for the plans.

Recommendation 21

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police open the contract to administer the RCMP insurance plans to competition when the current contract ends.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and action has been taken to address it. The RCMP is commencing a procurement process in accordance with the Government's regulations for a new third party administrative contract to commence in 2010. In the interim, a new competitive contract has been entered into to administer the RCMP insurance plans when the current contract ends on March 31, 2008.

Recommendation 22

The Public Service Labour Relations Act and Treasury Board policies be amended to provide that a public servant dismissed for misconduct will: a) have his or her security clearance revoked; and b) be disentitled to a reference or recommendation for other employment within the public service.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered in those cases where misconduct is on the grounds of security, as in these types of cases, the existing Government Security Policy allows for the revocation of an individual's security clearance and/or reliability status. This matter will be revisited as part of a review of the Government Security Policy. The Government Security Policy and the Guidelines for Discipline are being reviewed as a part of the Treasury Board Secretariat's Policy Suite Renewal Initiative. Additionally, Deputy Ministers on the National Security Committee (NSC) have directed that a full review of all security screening regimes be conducted. As a result, a review/study led by Privy Council Office, Treasury Board Secretariat, and Public Works and Government Services was commenced in January 2008. This review involves participation by the RCMP. The review's findings will be presented to the Deputy Minister NSC later this year.

With regard to disentitlement of a reference, there is currently no vested right to a reference or recommendation for any employee who has left the public service, including those who have been dismissed. Consideration will be given to this recommendation in the Treasury Board Secretariat Guidelines for Discipline. However, amendments to the Public Service Labour Relations Act are not necessary to achieve the objectives of this recommendation.

Recommendation 23

The Treasury Board Secretariat initiate a review of its policies on dismissing a public servant with cause so as to clearly allow for the immediate dismissal of any public servant who has engaged in misconduct.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered as part of a review of the Guidelines for Discipline. The Treasury Board Guidelines for Discipline outline that dismissal of a public servant with cause may be imposed after a series of acts of misconduct or for a single act of serious misconduct. These Guidelines are in keeping with the long-established principles of progressive discipline and discipline being corrective in nature. There are certain steps that must to be taken, in light of due process, when considering dismissal of an employee and they are to be taken as expeditiously as possible. Consideration will be given to clarifying the wording in the Treasury Board Secretariat Guidelines for Discipline to highlight these principles by June 2008. The Guidelines also provide that in certain cases of suspected misconduct when the presence of the employee at work cannot be tolerated or could undermine or impede the investigation, the employee may be suspended without pay.

Recommendation 24

In order to speed up the process for dismissing a public servant for misconduct, the Public Service Labour Relations Act should be amended to provide that any grievance of the dismissal must be referred directly to adjudication within a prescribed time period.

Response
The Government supports the principle that grievances related to dismissal should be expedited and provisions are already in place to address it. Therefore, no amendments to the Public Service Labour Relations Act are required. The process for dismissing a public servant for misconduct is a separate process that precedes the grievance process. While the grievance process is ongoing, the employee remains dismissed. The grievance procedure is a long-standing negotiated right included in core public administration collective agreements, which cannot be unilaterally changed without agreement from the various bargaining agents. Collective agreements and the Public Service Labour Relations Board Regulations allow that in cases of termination of employment, grievances go directly to the final level within the department, thereby bypassing the first two steps in the grievance process. This internal level of the grievance process is an important measure that allows management an opportunity to reconsider its initial decision before going to a third party adjudicator. A grievance at the final level must be responded to within 30 days. The former employee may refer the grievance to adjudication within 40 days of receiving the final level reply. The Public Service Labour Relations Board's practice has been to give priority to grievances regarding termination of employment and to schedule hearings for these grievances as quickly as possible.

Recommendation 25

The Government of Canada amend section 43(8) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to compel the Appropriate Officer to take action upon learning of any contravention of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Code of Conduct within one year or else be subject to sanctions.

Response
The Government submits that provisions are in place to address this recommendation. Further amendments to the RCMP Act on this matter are not required at this time. Both the RCMP Act and the Code of Conduct (which is set out in the RCMP Regulations, 1988) confer a number of duties and obligations on RCMP members in dealing with alleged contraventions of the Code. These include requirements to promptly report any contravention of the Code of Conduct by any other member and to not knowingly neglect or give insufficient attention to any duty the member is required to perform.

In addition, when an Appropriate Officer or member in command of a detachment becomes aware of possible contraventions of the Code of Conduct, he or she is required to carry out, or cause to be carried out, an investigation to determine whether or not there has been a contravention. In addition, when an Appropriate Officer becomes aware of an alleged contravention of the Code of Conduct and determines that informal disciplinary action is not appropriate, the Appropriate Officer is required to initiate a hearing into the matter. The RCMP Act further provides that no hearing can be initiated after one year from the time the contravention and the identity of the member became known to the Appropriate Officer.

Therefore, failure to comply with the above requirements could constitute neglect of duty and a breach of the Code of Conduct, and the Appropriate Officer could be subject to sanction.

Recommendation 26

The Government of Canada strengthen the legislative authority of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP to enable it to conduct self-initiated reviews, as well as to guarantee it the full access to documents and persons that is included in the powers of subpoena.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered as part of the Government's on-going efforts to make the RCMP a stronger, more accountable and modern organization. The Government is consulting on this and other legislative recommendations made by the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP, and will give them full and proper consideration before further action on major reforms is decided upon.

Recommendation 27

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide the Public Accounts Committee with an action plan by May 31, 2008 on how to implement the Information Commissioner's recommendations.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation. The RCMP will provide an action plan addressing the March 2006 recommendations of the Information Commissioner of Canada by May 31, 2008.

Recommendation 28

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide the additional resources needed by the Access to Information Branch to allow it to fulfill its mandate.

Response
The Government supports this recommendation and action is ongoing to address it. The RCMP is taking steps to provide additional resources to its Access to Information Branch. The RCMP is preparing a business case seeking permanent funding for fiscal year 2008/09 which will provide adequate resources to ensure timely and efficient processing of access to information requests. Since March 2007, the RCMP Access to Information Branch was successful in staffing 16 of its 18 vacancies and has improved its compliance rate in meeting Access to Information requests from 29% last year to 69% as of January 2008.

Recommendation 30

The Government of Canada amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to provide independent authority to the RCMP Ethics Advisor to enable him or her to conduct inquiries into whether allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing against RCMP members have been properly investigated. The Ethics Advisor should publish an annual report and have the authority to initiate Code of Conduct investigations and to recommend that outside police forces conduct a criminal investigation when warranted.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered as part of the Government's on-going efforts to make the RCMP a stronger, more accountable and modern organization. The Government is consulting on this and other legislative recommendations made by the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP, and will give them full and proper consideration before further action on major reforms is decided upon.

Recommendation 31

The Government of Canada establish a Police Accountability Board that will provide third-party oversight of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Commissioner of the RCMP would continue to report to the Minister, but would also report to the Board, which, in turn, would report to the Minister and publish a public annual report on the performance of the RCMP, which would be tabled in Parliament.

Response
This recommendation will be carefully considered as part of the Government's on-going efforts to make the RCMP a stronger, more accountable and modern organization. The Government is consulting on this and other legislative recommendations made by the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP, and will give them full and proper consideration before further action on major reforms is decided upon.

Appendix 1

RCMP Management Response to Recommendation 1: Status Report on Implementation of the Auditor General's November 2006 Recommendations

Date modified:

2015-12-07