In a surprising development, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson voiced his ‎frustration with his inability to fire “a few bad apples” in an open letter to ‎Canadians.‎

The RCMP has, in the commissioner’s words, a history that is mostly good, some ‎bits not so much.  Among the most recent bad bits is the Mountie’s collective ‎response to a long and complex history of sexual harassment in the ‎workplace.  There is a class action suit developing in BC over sexual harassment. ‎Women, who might under other circumstances be a recruiting target for the ‎Mounties, would likely look at this history with some justified trepidation.

The most recent incident involves a decision to demote RCMP Sgt Don Ray and ‎transferred him from Edmonton to BC as part of his punishment for actions he ‎admitted. These included, according to published reports, having sex with ‎subordinates, drinking with them at work, and sexually harassing some colleagues ‎over a three year period.

His transfer to BC has led the Premier to express her dis-satisfaction with the ‎transfer, and get an assurance that the transferred officer will work on Federal ‎policing matters, not provincial or municipal ones.  She is quoted as saying that ‎women who are “watching this” would conclude “this isn’t right.”‎

The Commissioner’s position is that the process, enshrined in the RCMP Act, is ‎so burdensome and slow, that it can take a very long time to take an action that is ‎clear.  He virtually apologizes in the letter for having to keep a bad apple on the ‎payroll.

In most companies, anyone admitting to that would simply be fired.  This leads to ‎Commissioner Bob Paulson’s problem. He can’t, or so he says.  And he ‎apologizes to Canadians for it, is lobbying the Government to change the RCMP ‎Act which governs discipline, and is reduced to taking the heat while a “bad ‎apple” is transferred from Edmonton to BC.