ARCHIVED - Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP - Report

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Chair's Message

I am pleased to present the Departmental Performance Report of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC) for 2010-2011. The report provides an overview of the CPC's work during this fiscal year and discusses the extent to which the CPC has met its objectives, as set out in its 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities.

In 2010-2011, the CPC received its requested interim funding from the Treasury Board's Management Reserve in order to meet the current demands of its existing mandate. With these additional funds, it was able to continue to meet and improve on its service standards, to conduct its trend analysis into complaints and areas of particular concern to the public, and increase its outreach capacity.

Section I: Departmental Overview

Raison d’être: Vision and Mission

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC) is an independent agency created by Parliament in 1988 and is not part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The CPC's fundamental role is to provide civilian review of the conduct of the RCMP members in carrying out their policing duties, thereby holding the RCMP accountable to the public.

Vision

Excellence in policing through accountability.

Mission

To provide civilian review of RCMP members' conduct in performing their policing duties so as to hold the RCMP accountable to the public.

Responsibilities

The mandate of the CPC is set out in Part VII of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act (RCMP Act) and can be summarized as follows:

• to receive complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members;¹
• to initiate complaints to delve into RCMP conduct when it is in the public interest to do so;
• to conduct reviews when complainants are not satisfied with the RCMP's handling of their complaints;
• to hold hearings and conduct investigations; and
• to report findings and make recommendations.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

In order to effectively pursue its mandate, the CPC aims to achieve the following strategic outcome.

The following graphic outlines the CPC's Program Activity Architecture and the priorities it set for 2010-2011.

text version

Organizational Priorities

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Increase public awareness of the role and services of the CPC.	On-going	RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.
Status: Met All
An EKOS study found that awareness of review bodies, such as the CPC, had increased from 33% in 2008 to 61% in 2010. The CPC has expanded website capabilities and improved ease of navigation. All reports on the CPC website are in user-friendly formats, with its annual reports available in PDF, XHTML and Flipbook. Although public awareness has increased, the CPC understands that many members of communities policed by the RCMP are not aware that they have recourse to an independent third party in relation to complaints against RCMP members. The CPC will continue to focus on increasing public awareness of its existence particularly in relation to more marginalized communities.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Strengthen the complaint and review processes.	On-going	RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.
Status: Mostly Met
The CPC has continued to track all complaints received whether lodged with the RCMP, the CPC or a provincial authority. In order to meet its service standards while facing an increased number of complaints, the CPC has retained highly qualified additional staff with the support of interim funding. The CPC launched a number of public interest investigations in relation to high profile incidents including one into the G8/G20 events. The CPC faced delays in the procurement of a new Business Process Management System; this was one of its key planned activities in support of strengthening the complaint and review processes.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Improve the relevance of review recommendations and identify complaint trends.	On-going	RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.
Status: Met All
The CPC's Review of the Record project continues to be an important public reporting and management tool in identifying areas of the public complaint system requiring further attention by the RCMP. The CPC has continued to conduct trends analysis as well as generate specialized reports. In addition to the Review of the Record report, the CPC issued a report entitled RCMP Use of the Conducted Energy Weapon and a submission to the Yukon Police Review that included a detailed review of all complaints originating from the Yukon.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Support management excellence.	On-going	RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.
Status: Met All
The Office of the Comptroller General conducted a core control audit of the CPC. The objective of the audit was to ensure that core controls over administration in financial management and contracting within the CPC are effective. Although areas for improvement were recommended, the Office of the Comptroller General found that the CPC has complied with the legislation, policies, and directives in the areas of financial management. The CPC has developed a management action plan that builds on the findings of the audit to support management excellence.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome
Maintain a workplace of choice.	On-going	RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.
Status: Met All
CPC employees participated in a national work-life and well-being study which was conducted by Dr. Linda Duxbury and Dr. Chris Higgins. The overall conclusion of the study was that the CPC can be considered a "best practice" employer, especially when it comes to issues regarding work-life balance.

Risk Analysis

In order to foster an organizational culture that supports risk-informed decision-making, focuses on results, and enables the consideration of both opportunity and innovation, the CPC, as part of its annual planning process, conducts a risk assessment and identifies appropriate actions to mitigate any identified risks. Risks and related mitigation strategies are also regularly discussed at senior executive committee meetings. In setting its plans and priorities for 2010-2011, the CPC considered key factors that could influence its direction and risks that could impact on its ability to achieve the results it is working towards. It identified and assessed a number of risks that had the potential to impede progress and developed mitigation strategies to address them.

In setting out its plans for 2010-2011, the following risk and mitigation strategies were identified:

Insufficient Funding

There was a risk that the CPC would not receive its requested interim funding from Treasury Board, which was needed to continue its critical work in the areas of outreach, strategic policy and research, as well as to meet any surge in complaints, reviews or special investigations. The CPC received $2.7M in interim funding from the Treasury Board's Management Reserve; therefore, the risk did not materialize.

Recruitment and Retention of Key Staff

Given its temporary funding situation, the CPC faced the risk of not having sufficient human resources, due to retention and recruitment challenges. To mitigate this risk, the CPC maintained its integrated business and human resources planning and continued its workplace of choice activities. A classification and staffing strategy was put in place to address organizational changes and recruitment/staffing pressures.

The investments in workplace of choice tools, such as performance management agreements emphasizing "how" results are achieved, leadership development and an enhanced learning policy have paid off with the retention of key staff and success with recruitment activities. In fact, a recent national work-life and well-being study identified the CPC as a "best practice" employer, especially when it comes to issues regarding work-life balance.

Summary of Performance

2010-11 Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
5,388	8,394	7,464

2010–11 Human Resources (full-time equivalents – FTEs)

Planned*	Actual	Difference
40	57	17

Strategic Outcome: RCMP members are held publicly accountable for their conduct in the performance of their duties.

Performance Indicators	Targets	2010-11 Performance
Recommendations were accepted by the RCMP and have been implemented.	100%	In the review of complaints, the CPC issued 223 reports in 2010-2011. During the same period, the Commissioner of the RCMP delivered 38 Commissioner's Notices wherein he agreed with 84% of the CPC's adverse findings and accepted 90% of the CPC's recommendations.

Program Activity	2009-10 Actual Spending ($ thousands)	2010-112 ($ thousands)				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Civilian review of RCMP members' conduct in the performance of their duties.	3,081	3,299	3,299	3,639	3,236	Social Affairs Safe and Secure Communities
Total	3,081	3,299	3,299	3,639	3,236

Program Activity	2009-10 Actual Spending ($ thousands)	2010-11 ($ thousands)
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Internal Services	4,468	2,089	2,089	4,755	4,228

* Planned spending was based on Main Estimates and did not include interim funding.

Expenditure Profile

Departmental Spending Trend ($ millions)

text version

Estimates by Vote

For information on our organizational votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the publication, Public Accounts of Canada 2010 (Volume II). An electronic version of this publication is available on the Public Works and Government Services Canada website.³

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