Good-bye to Commissioner Lucki?

Posted on by Pete Cross

It has been widely rumoured, keep in mind, one knows what an Ottawa rumour is worth, that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is headed to retirement in June 2022. Let’s say from the outset, I do not know Ms. Lucki personally, have never even seen her in a public forum, so on a personal level one can only wish her a the best in her retirement after a lengthy period of service.

As an interested observer from afar however, or as simply a member of the general public, the time seems appropriate to evaluate her time on the Mountie throne.

In terms of our ability to measure her time and effectiveness, she did not leave us much to go on.

Ms. Lucki was “the leader the Mounties needed” according to Justin Trudeau in 2018; who he judged to be the “absolutely best person for the job, who just happens to be a woman”. The fact that he needed to add “happens to be a woman” is clearly a glimpse in to what Mr. Trudeau saw a pre-requisite for this job.

She was heralded as the 1st “permanent” woman to head the RCMP, her predecessor Bev Busson only being around for a short time in her “temporary” position. (Long enough clearly though to score sufficient points for an eventual Senate seat.)

In 2018 the decade of women advancement in policing was in full bloom much like in all the other government departments across the country. Women were reaching new heights in terms of leadership roles across the organization and at an unprecedented speed. They were in effect being “over-represented” in order for an organization to progress and just as importantly to at the very least be deemed progressive.

In her acceptance of the post as the 24th Commissioner, Lucki outlined her primary plans for “bolstering diversity”and “reconciliation with indigenous persons”. She pointed to her previous successes with the First Nations of northern Manitoba. The speech could have and may have been written by Gerald Butts. No real mention of the brewing problems of contract policing or the upcoming possible unionization of the membership. She, unlike most of her predecessors was a one dimensional candidate, with a singular approach to what ailed the Mounties. Diversity and inclusion would be from the beginning to the end her single mantra.

Her background reflected an insular policing career–in the Peace keeping program in Ottawa, as the head of Depot training centre in Regina, as part of the United Nations protection force in Yugoslavia. None of these positions pointed to a larger understanding of Federal or Provincial policing, the true fundamental core of the RCMP.

The problem of course, like many Federal employees is that Lucki was a liberal in speech only, in knowing the right things to say and where to say them as opposed to knowing the machinations that would be needed to carry out any re-conditioning. She was playing the game of “representation” and “diversity”, without really knowing how she was going to accomplish this, or fully appreciating that the Force that extended past Ottawa didn’t share the same level of concern. Secondly, decades of processes and ingrained cultural history were simply not going to be won over from the confines of a committee room in Ottawa.

In essence she was pulled up by the language of the Woke, then got entangled in the spider-web language of the Woke. Her credence and her dilemma began to unravel once she came under the Liberal magnifying glass of the truly Woke of Ottawa. She aptly demonstrated her conundrum a mere two years later when she flip-flopped on the term “systemic racism”.

She also quickly learned that the Indigenous leadership in this country will turn on you very quickly– should you dare to question their “truth”. Her award for building relationships in Manitoba was as flimsy as the paper on which it was written when confronted by the dialogue of the Indigenous victim. She was caught between knowing that in fact, in the policing world, there is little evidence if any of “systemic racism” by its true definition and on the other side was what she needed to say to appease. She floundered. She knew that if she stated her truth she would have been in full conflict with the people who put her there.

So twenty-four hours later desperate to be on the side of the righteous left, she became a convert, and admitted to “systemic racism”. Unfortunately, she was then asked for examples to prove her conversion and once again, she became the proverbial fish out of water. The example she felt that bolstered her new claim of “systemic racism” was the “height” requirements for Mounties. When someone pointed out that this was more likely “discrimination” rather than “racism” she bumbled once again. The next day, Bill Blair had to come to her rescue and do damage control.

So a mere two years after her start, Perry Bellegarde the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs called for her “resignation”. Apparently her “strong focus on advancing Indigenous reconciliation” had failed– the Indigenous now not wanting to “reconcile” with the Commissioner.

She kept trying though. When asked during an interview as a leader of the RCMP what was the toughest decision she faced, she confusingly answered that it was listening to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry testimony. Her need to appease clearly had overwhelmed her ability to even understand the concept of what constitutes a “decision”.

It may have became clear early on to the Liberals, that it may be best if she remained silent and in the background.

Suffice to say that for the last couple of years, we have never had a quieter Commissioner. We went from the somewhat bombastic Paulson to the uncomfortable introvert.

Even when the Force was chastised or lambasted for its lack of leadership, she remained quiet, seemingly unable or incapable to defend. Recently the Information Commissioner of Canada said that “the RCMP is failing in terms of its obligation to ensure Canadians have access to information about its operation and decision making…” that this “lack of action on the part of the RCMP leadership” had been going on for too long.

When a human rights watchdog agency had its requests ignored about the “spying on Indigenous and climate activists” it led to “inexcusable delays” and they accused Lucki of simply ignoring the matter. So the Commissioner who had promised to a program of “listening and learning” wasn’t listening and had not learned that one needs to get ahead of issues. The ongoing examination of the incident in Portapique, is looking like another embarrassment of riches in terms of failures to get things done, at least on a broader level.

Under Lucki, the organization has continued to be inert, unable to act or react, weighed down by a suffocating bureaucracy.

This would have been a difficult time for any Commissioner, it would have taken an extremely strong leader to counter the accepted narrative. Commissioner Lucki clearly did not have that capability. One would have had to at times embarrass the Liberals, stand up to ridiculous assertions, outline the resourcing and staffing difficulties, and point to the failings as well as the successes. She did not or could not do that.

We should also remember that Ms. Lucki was picked by a large panel of seven individuals headed by former Premier of New Brunswick Frank McKenna. How is it that this crew could have felt in those tentative times, that Ms. Lucki was the best choice from across Canada?

One wonders that if there was a Walk of Fame for former Commissioners built outside Leikin Drive –who would get a star or a set of spurs in concrete. Maybe Paulson, if infamy is important, for his crocodile tears on settling the sexual harassment suit and paying out millions of dollars. It was at the very least a memorable media moment.

Elliott who ran into the wall of Mountie intransigence and was apparently given to throwing papers around. Not likely. But then again his intemperance may have been earned.

Zaccardelli who was forced to resign by Harper over the Maher Arar incident for not quite telling the full truth about the RCMP involvement. Again, not likely.

Busson will probably get one after all, she was the first ‘woman” to accept the post, at least temporarily.

One wonders for the next round of Commissioner applications if we are we still in the age of firsts– first woman, first black, first Indigenous, first LGBTQ member? One can only hope that in the next selection for Commissioner we have run out of “first” as being a qualification.

So who will that next Commissioner be? There is another rumour that it may be the current Acting Executive Director of Strategic Policy and Planning Directorate, Alison Whelan. Apparently she is good friends of Lucki, but I am not so sure that Lucki’s pick will carry much weight.

Ms. Whelan is a policy wonk and a long term civilian civil servant in the RCMP. She joined the Federal government as a policy analyst in 2003, then into the RCMP in 2013 to “manage policy development” and to provide “analysis on national security, serious and organized crime.” In 2018 she moved over to National Security and Protective policy. She has a Masters in Political Science from Memorial University in Newfoundland and is co-chair of a task force to create National Hate Crimes Policy Standards as well as an executive director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. Policy, is clearly her noteworthy strength, policy is central to her being, but is the policy bureaucracy of Ottawa the place where we should be looking for change, understanding, and leadership? Would a “civilian” leader be the right choice at this time?

(On the off chance you want to learn more of Ms Whelan– she will participate in a “fireside chat” on May 4th, 2022 at the Law of Policing Conference.)

There have been a long list of Commissioners over they years, none of who’s names usually spring quickly to mind.

Remember Malcolm Lindsay in 1969, after all we named a boat after him.

There was William Higgitt in 1973– we also named a boat after him. He was followed by Nadon in 1977, and yes we named a boat after him as well. Simmonds and Inkster soon followed and we named boats after them. You would have thought we were building a navy.

Nevertheless, as we say bon voyage to Ms. Lucki maybe a new boat is in order or, at least maybe a small raft as she sails into retirement. Maybe, if we built a big raft, we could put the real root of the problem, Mr Trudeau, on the raft with her.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Commons via Benito Condemi de Flice – Some Rights Reserved

Advice on getting to the Top

Posted on by Pete Cross

This blog is going to attempt to use somewhat brilliant semi-objective analysis to guide you to the top echelon of the RCMP– where you will at long last be able breathe the thin air of the enlightened hierarchy. This is based on an in-depth study and analysis of those that have already reached the pinnacle of policing in the RCMP–the Commissioner and the Senior Executive Committee –the very cornerstones of this rather large organization. I did not look at mere Inspectors or lowly Superintendents. They are too commonplace now.

This advice pertains to those of  you who want to be grabbing at the highest rung, becoming the next Commissioner, or at the very least, to be part of the Senior Executive Committee of the RCMP. Why aim low after all? This is for those of you who want Putin power–not Jagmeet Singh pretend power.  

Reaching these heights would give you the ability to control your own destiny, make your own hours and prepare you for a post retirement lucrative double-dipping job, once you have passed your best due date. Those put your feet up jobs like the Chief of Oak Bay police Department, or maybe a highly favoured job with Interpol, which for years was the ultimate in luxurious semi-retirement (has anybody every figured out what Interpol does?)

The sky is the limit for those of you who plan ahead. If you play your political cards right, you could even be made a Senator. 

To undertake this study I have been busily examining the background and makeup of that Senior Executive Committee and the current Commissioner.  What type of service did they come from? What Division of the RCMP was a better step into those upper echelons? What type of policing forms a good grounding for the next promotion? You may or may not be surprised at my conclusions. 

In reading this please bear in mind that this writer is not a Statistician, nor do I purport to have the mathematical skills of an Alan Turing.  Nevertheless, I remain undeterred by this lack of number crunching skills and am focused in my goal of writing this primer on advancement.

If you are already one of those in the officer candidate program, you likely would have researched and may have already chartered your path to senior executive pay. If you are already leaping over the backs of your co-workers you are reminded that you will still need to maintain your outward political face of conformity and therefore should not read any further.

For those that are just thinking about future career paths and do not want to remain a Constable or a Corporal for life (the old timers out there will remember the C.F.L. club) then you need to keep reading.

Let’s start with the gender issue, for which obviously you have no control, but it is something you should at least be aware of where the competition is lurking.

So for the first newsflash-you have better chance of making it to the top if you are a female. This by the way is contrary to the historical record as this was not always so. But in this 21st century, currently 21.6% of the RCMP is made up of women. In terms of the SEC, 47% of the positions are currently filled by women. There are 9 men and 8 women. Women are therefore over-represented in terms of their numbers in the Force, but about equally reflected in terms of society as a whole.

While we are on the tenuous and sometimes dangerous topic of women in policing, there has long been reported in many places that women make up the majority of the Division heads in the RCMP. That, upon actual investigation is not true. Of the 12 Divisions only 5 are headed by females. That is still better than their current RCMP numbers would suggest. It is still 42% of the leadership. 

Which Divisions have produced the best opportunities for our future executives? This is a little more difficult to measure as some have served in different provinces throughout their championship ride. It is clear that Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are odds on better places to be coming from; while A Division, B Division, G Division, J Division and M Division are death holes. Nobody on the SEC is from any of these latter Divisions. E Division has a couple of representatives but then again, E Division is the biggest operational Division, therefore competition is greater and we are trying to avoid competition, so we do not recommend E Division.

Another factor which was discovered is that if you want to make it to the SEC, you will likely have to like the city of Ottawa and enjoy lunches with the rest of the polyester crowd on the Spark St. Mall. That is because the vast majority of the SEC group spent some and in a few cases almost all their time working in Ottawa.

Now before anyone jumps to conclusions, one must remember that there are five civilian members on the SEC, mandarins from the nation’s capital and all of its sundry government departments. The lawyer in charge of Legal and the human resources head are two obvious examples of those that come to be running parts of the RCMP with no policing background. Surprised? Didn’t think so.

To be fair, it is easy to argue that a Chief Financial officer moving the monies around does not need to know anything about policing, and a lawyer is a lawyer is a lawyer. The disadvantage, is that prior to arriving at Leikin Drive, they would have been heavily involved in the bureaucratic politics of Ottawa. They would have risen in their respective Federal Departments fully understanding the need to fit in with the government agendas. Therefore it is unlikely that they would see policing as much different from any other Federal government department. Surviving for a long period in Ottawa is directly related to your ability to be invisible to political machinations. Do not expect innovation from this group.

Another operational background in this personal study which proves significant, way beyond its apparent operational value, is that a number of the SEC did a stint with International peacekeeping duties, including your Commissioner. Four or five of the members did stints in Haiti or Kosovo or some other “hot” spot.  It is not clear what the relevance of this is in terms of value to the organization but it is a clear advantage to volunteer. Go overseas where you will have lots of time to day dream of a more comfortable leather chair in which to put your likely expanding posterior –after having been nourished by all those U.N salary dollars.

Also clear is that Federal policing, in terms of background, far out weighs the advantages of coming from a Provincial criminal background. In fact, if you have some connection to Depot in Regina you are statistically almost as well off as someone on the contract side of the policing ledger. 

In terms of education, nothing surprising here, Bachelor degrees are commonplace, a few have Master degrees and one, a civilian has a PhD. Nor is it surprising that the regular Mounties of the group like to collect Silver and Golden Jubilee medals as they build up their curriculum vitae. Stay friendly to the Queen.  

Three of the SEC had connections to contract policing and of those two had connections to some form of Indigenous portfolio; three had been involved in diversity initiatives.  This too is not surprising if one has been paying any attention to the Liberal agenda. The retrenchment of the regular religions has been superseded by the supremacy of the eagle feather.

The Commissioner is a shining example having received the Order of Merit for “improving Indigenous relations”. Where the bar would be to receive that Order is difficult to guess. Brian Brennan, another member of the SEC, claims to have first introduced the eagle feather, the sweat lodge and spiritual cleansing to operational policing in H Division. 

It is a bit of the elephant in the room when talking about the Indigenous, but no one can deny that there is a clear advantage to being Indigenous right now in any level or department of the Federal government. This is unlikely to change in the near future, as the Indigenous since 2006 has seen their population increase by 42.5%, four times the growth rate of the non-aboriginal population. As the numbers increase, their ability to get to the top is going to continue to be a smoother road than most. This also explains the very large increase in those who have recently “found” themselves and are now identifying as Indigenous.

So get checking your Ancestry sites, the governments of this country have made it official– your skin colour matters, whether you are applying for a business loan or running for a seat in the BC NDP government.  

Also remember if you want a piece of that “risk bonus” that Paulson started handing out a couple of years ago to his senior executives, or, you want to move on to Interpol like former Commissioner Bill Elliott who was living in an $8000 a month condo in Manhattan, then you have to be tactical. You have to pay attention to the trends in government, the nuances, the language of the corridors of power. You must go along to get along. Promote one self but do not rock the proverbial boat.

So, skin colour aside, who would make the perfect candidate? 

Someone who likes Ottawa, has spent a great deal of time in Federal policing, is willing to go overseas, and who started out their service on the Prairies.

However, if you have a natural affinity for Ottawa and enjoy the political atmosphere of cocktail parties, conferences and thousands of meetings, you should seriously consider quitting. Seriously.

Instead, go to some other Federal department. Go to the Department of National Defence or Revenue Canada, get a good education in law or human resources, and immerse yourself in the diversity agenda. Learn both official languages of course –then just lateral across. Seems simple. 

In summation. No matter which path you choose, as you head down and manoeuvre through those corridors of power and begin your climb to greatness, remember the little people, the general duty member in Claresholm, Alberta or Flin Flon Manitoba who still blindly believe those adages of hard work. Keep telling them they are the backbone of the Force. It worked on me for some thirty years.

Please Note: For those that want and need to learn more– supplementary courses on policing “advancement” are available at any grey haired coffee klatch of grumbling retired Mounties who are arguing over who gets the bill. You just need to say something to get them started.

And by the way, you’re welcome. 

Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons by Angelo Amboldi – Some Rights Reserved