Tuesday, July 15, 2025
ADVT 
National

RCMP needs less paramilitary, more oversight: MPs

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Jun, 2021 02:03 PM
  • RCMP needs less paramilitary, more oversight: MPs

It's time for Canada to have a "reckoning" about the RCMP, says the chair of a House of Commons committee that studied systemic racism in policing.

John McKay, a Toronto Liberal MP and chair of the House public safety committee, said the Mounties are a globally known Canadian icon, but it's time to acknowledge the RCMP's "quasi-military" existence is not working for all Canadians.

"There is a season and a time for a reckoning for every country and its institutions," McKay said at a news conference Thursday.

"This in my judgment is a time for Canada to have a reckoning with itself and with its premier institutions."

The public safety committee began the study of systemic racism in policing in June 2020, after weeks of protests in Canada and the United States following the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

Floyd's death also turned a spotlight on racism and police in Canada. Jack Harris, the NDP public safety critic, moved a motion to study systemic racism in policing on June 23, 2020, and the committee agreed. The report was issued Thursday, based on 19 meetings, testimony from 53 witnesses and more than a dozen written briefs.

The report says MPs on the committee can conclude only that "systemic racism in policing in Canada is a real and pressing problem to be urgently addressed."

But the MPs also admit that this report is just the latest in a long list of studies and reviews that concluded the same thing, none of which led to much change.

Harris said Thursday "it is more clear than ever before that the RCMP needs transformational change" but is worried because he says the Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "has a history of failing to act on reports."

"The time is now to take serious and concrete action. The RCMP needs to move away from the paramilitary colonial model to a police service model with strong civilian oversight.”

The committee also calls for mandatory data collection on excessive use of force, better training on de-escalation and responding to people in a mental health crisis, more diversity in police forces and oversight bodies, and better funding for Indigenous police forces, including in urban areas with large Indigenous populations.

The MPs also want better parameters for when force is permitted to be used by police, and "serious consequences" for RCMP officers who use force excessively.

The Conservatives, in a supplementary report, urged more work on that front, saying it is not clear from the witnesses whether the problem is in guidelines for use of force, or a lack of training and enforcement regarding those guidelines.

The committee has requested that the government provide a "comprehensive response" to the report.

Quebec Liberal MP Greg Fergus, who chairs the Parliamentary Black caucus and participated in the committee's study, said it is definitely not new that systemic racism in policing exists. But he said the committee has done valuable work in listening and responding to multiple witnesses who were able to speak about the issue in depth.

"What's also new is that there's a road map now, because of this report, this unanimous report of parliamentarians from all walks of life," he said. They have laid out a very clear process forward to make the changes, "not only in the RCMP but in police services across the country which can be inspired by this."

"That's what's new. That's what's important. That's what's necessary."

MORE National ARTICLES

Vancouver Police seize guns in illegal marijuana store bust

Vancouver Police seize guns in illegal marijuana store bust
Vancouver Police are investigating after firearms were located during an inspection of an unlicensed marijuana store by the Province’s Community Safety Unit (CSU).

Vancouver Police seize guns in illegal marijuana store bust

Mother of London attack suspect prays for victims

Mother of London attack suspect prays for victims
The mother of the man accused of driving down and killing a Muslim family in London, Ont., says she is "grieved by the horrific tragedy."

Mother of London attack suspect prays for victims

Canada alone in vaccine vagueness as G7 begins

Canada alone in vaccine vagueness as G7 begins
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hosting the G7 leaders for a three-day summit, taking place in the southwest village of Carbis Bay — bustling with police and summit officials — where the focus is on ending the health crisis, now in its second year.

Canada alone in vaccine vagueness as G7 begins

Victoria scraps Canada Day broadcast

Victoria scraps Canada Day broadcast
City councillors in Victoria have voted unanimously to cancel a planned Canada Day broadcast in order to permit a "thoughtful reflection" of what it means to be Canadian.

Victoria scraps Canada Day broadcast

Father of alleged London attacker expresses sorrow

Father of alleged London attacker expresses sorrow
The deadly attack against a Muslim family in southwestern Ontario was "a senseless act," the father of the man accused in what police believe was a deliberate hate crime said Thursday.

Father of alleged London attacker expresses sorrow

Search for potential GG candidates finished

Search for potential GG candidates finished
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says a short list of potential candidates to become Canada's next governor general will be in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's hands in "the next few days."

Search for potential GG candidates finished