PACP Committee Report

ETHICS

The RCMP has earned the trust of Canadians and has built its international reputation as a model police force by setting high standards of ethical behaviour for its members. However, as this case demonstrates, these standards were repeatedly violated and a culture developed that rewarded wrongdoers while punishing those who spoke out against them. While the RCMP does have an Ethics Advisor, this person has neither the independence nor the authority to ensure that senior executives uphold and maintain the RCMP’s high ethical standards.

Ethical Culture

Leadership in an organization is vital. It sets the tone and provides a model of behaviour for others to follow. Professor Linda Duxbury, an expert in organizational culture, related the importance of leadership to setting and changing an organization’s culture:

[L]eadership does matter, especially with respect to cultural change, because the leader sets the culture by his or her own behaviour. The leader also has access to the resources and the levers needed for this kind of change, such as changing the accountability framework, changing reward structures, and so on.¹

Unfortunately, the leadership style of Commr Zaccardelli was not conducive to creating a healthy ethical culture within the RCMP. David Brown described Commr Zaccardelli as having an autocratic leadership style, and it was perceived that displeasing Commr Zaccardelli would be career limiting. He was the boss and everyone had to follow his lead, which was clear when he said to the Committee, “When I make that decision, everybody else has to fall in line. That’s my position.”²

It should be no surprise, then, that Commr Zaccardelli did not take action when S/Sgt Ron Lewis raised allegations in 2002 about harassment and abuse of authority by Jim Ewanovich. As David Brown put it: “The problems created by Commr Zaccardelli’s own management style were exacerbated by the fact that he did not object to similar management styles among some other members of his management team.”³

It did not take long for a culture of impunity and a lack of trust to develop within the RCMP. This is due, in part, to other RCMP senior managers, such as Mr. Ewanovich and Mr. Crupi, creating a poisoned work culture through intimidation. Members and employees learned that they should not rock the boat, because if they did, they would face punishment. S/Sgt Lewis described the situation: “A culture was created by several senior executives where it became very dangerous for employees to report wrongdoings. The risk to their careers and financial well-being was high.”⁴ The actions taken against those who did step forward set an example for others, as was described in the section on the disclosure of wrongdoing.

The Committee was deeply disappointed in the actions of several senior RCMP employees who either engaged in unethical behaviour or permitted it to exist. Consequently, the Committee recommends that:

Recommendation 29

The House of Commons denounce the behaviour of all senior Royal Canadian Mounted Police employees who tarnished the credibility of the force through negligence, partiality, or dishonesty: namely, Dominic Crupi, Jim Ewanovich, Paul Gauvin, and Barbara George.

Establishing an appropriate ethical culture is essential because internal controls can only accomplish so much. If senior managers are determined to break the rules, there is little that can stop them. Assistant Auditor General Hugh McRoberts outlined the problem:

At the end of the day, however, when we are dealing with matters that involve management override, I think one goes beyond the realm of controls and goes into the realm of ethics and values… .The issue that arises here is that you can control so many things, but if the ethics and values of senior management are not sufficient so that they control themselves from overriding those controls, then, in essence, no matter how many locks we put on the treasure chest, eventually they’ll get in.⁵

Further, if the culture within the RCMP had been different, the improprieties might have been uncovered and addressed much sooner. David Brown wrote: “[T]he chain of events that to led to this report could have been broken at various points, if the culture had supported those who complained of the misconduct.”⁶

The source of the ethical problems, according to A/Commr John Spice, the former Ethics Advisor, was a form of low level corruption, where managers believed that it was okay to circumvent the rules in order to meet certain goals. A/Commr Spice said:

The unethical behaviour of certain individuals created this situation, in my view, because of the phenomenon of Noble Cause Corruption. Noble cause corruption is simply the belief that the end justifies the means. When employees do not see people held accountable for unethical behaviour, or they witness unethical behaviour that goes unchecked, they then sometimes begin to model the behaviour.⁷

The goal was to outsource the administration of the pension plan as quickly as possible, even if that meant bending a few rules. However, the rules were not just bent; they became distorted, with extensive nepotism and widespread contracting irregularities. The managers needed to be reminded that the means used do matter, especially since unethical behaviour just breeds more unethical behaviour, which may slowly slide into criminal conduct.

The results of not establishing an appropriate ethical culture and dealing with these issues early on have been devastating for the RCMP. Not only has the RCMP’s public reputation suffered, the RCMP appears to be facing an internal crisis of confidence of regular members in senior management. Staff Sergeant Steve Walker, who had been a member of the Ottawa Police Service criminal investigation, described his disillusionment:

I can now say, as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, that I am disappointed and disillusioned that both the criminal and internal processes have failed to bring any degree of accountability. I am devastated that every core value and rule of ethical conduct that I held to be true and dear as a rank-and-file member of the RCMP has been decimated and defiled by employees at the highest levels of the RCMP.⁸

The crisis of confidence in senior management appears to be substantial within the RCMP. Professor Linda Duxbury conducted an extensive survey of RCMP members, which found that regular members were frustrated by their managers. She described her findings:

What they were frustrated with was the top-down style of management, non-supportive managers who don’t trust or respect their members, managers’ inability to communicate effectively with staff, politically driven agendas, managers who are perceived to be careerists who are governed by their personal agendas, and managers who did not walk the talk.⁹

This situation is not sustainable. The RCMP needs to quickly re-establish a robust ethical culture and maintain strong ethical values if it is to restore its reputation and regain the confidence of regular members. Staff Sergeant Mike Frizzell expressed some hope for the future:

I believe that organizations are made up of people, and as such they will make mistakes. I believe the public will understand and forgive as long as they know that we are doing everything we can to avoid making mistakes in the first place, to learn from the mistakes we do make, and to make darned sure they never happen again. Our ethics and integrity must be beyond reproach.¹⁰

Ethics Advisor

The RCMP does have a senior officer, the Ethics Advisor, who is responsible for promoting standards of ethical behaviour and ensuring that appropriate ethics and values are instilled within all RCMP members. The current Ethics Advisor, Assistant Commissioner Sandra Conlin, described her mandate and priorities:

The mandate of the RCMP’s Office of the Ethics Advisor is to ensure our organization’s shared mission, visions and values become ingrained in the day-to-day activities of all employees. … Since I assumed my role as ethics advisor five months ago, one of my first priorities has been to build capacity in the Office of the Ethics Advisor in order to deliver on policy and programs that help drive a climate of meaningful accountability, control, values, and ethics. … Another priority of the Office of the Ethics Advisor has been to study and understand how ethics and compliance issues fit into the RCMP’s overall strategic direction.¹¹

A/Commr Conlin also stated that her office is responsible for ensuring that members have appropriate training in ethics:

We also provide ethics education as part of our mandate. We have been working very closely with the RCMP HR learning and development section to ensure that the supervisory development course, the management development course, and the officer development course have an ethical component to them. We have a two-day ethical component.¹²

The Ethics Advisor is undoubtedly an important part of developing an appropriate ethical culture within the RCMP. However, the Ethics Advisor does not have sufficient authority or independence to ensure that senior management upholds that culture.

As mentioned in the section on the disclosure of wrongdoing, the Ethics Advisor is also the senior officer responsible for receiving and reviewing disclosures of wrongdoing. Several members went to the then Ethics Advisor, A/Commr Spice, to outline their concerns with wrongdoing in the administration of the pension plan. However, the Ethics Advisor did not have the authority to take action and to hold people to account. A/Commr Spice put it in the following way, “I was not in the position to hold people accountable. I was there to report upon wrongdoing. And in so reporting that wrongdoing, people ought to have been held accountable.”¹³

As the RCMP Ethics Advisor is simply an advisor to the RCMP Commissioner and the Senior Executive Committee, the strength of the Advisor depends largely upon support from senior management, which is not always present. The former Ethics Advisor, A/Commr Spice, was told by Commr Zaccardelli that some senior RCMP officers were concerned that he was too active. A/Commr Spice relayed his conversation:

It went to a point that the commissioner spoke to me one day and said: “John, some of the [Commanding Officers] and the deputies think you’re being involved in too much, and they really don’t understand this role of the senior officer for internal wrongdoing in the workplace.”¹⁴

Additionally, A/Commr Spice told the Committee that there was a stigma attached with going to see the Ethics Advisor. He said:

You have to understand my position as the Ethics Advisor. I was on the main floor of headquarters building and you would actually see people walk back and forth in front of the office until there was nobody in the hall, and then they would duck into my office. So there was a stigma attached to going to see the Ethics Advisor.¹⁵

The current Ethics Advisor, A/Commr Conlin insisted that she has full confidence in receiving support from the current Commissioner, William Elliott, and senior management. She also insisted that her role was not to protect the RCMP but to make sure that behaviour is ethical and the RCMP does the right thing. However, in a command and control paramilitary organization, such as the RCMP, having the Ethics Advisor within the hierarchy of command leaves the possibility for conflicts to exist. Moreover, David Brown criticized the structure of the Office of the Ethics Advisor. He wrote, “The Ethics Advisor had no established role, very limited resources to support the function and no regional presence.”¹⁶ The stigma attached to going to see the Ethics Advisor could only apply to employees working in headquarters, because for the many members working in the regions, there was no Ethics Advisor to visit.

A/Commr Spice told the Committee that the RCMP needed a more independent voice on ethical matters. He said, “The ethics office is critical to the organization, but I believe there is a need for an ombudsperson. … There’s a necessity to have something outside to oversee those decisions and ensure that everything is as it should be.”¹⁷ One of the primary reasons would be to provide oversight with regard to complaints against senior managers. According to A/Commr Spice, “the RCMP requires oversight as it relates to complaints about senior managers, EX levels to the commissioner. There is a need for an ombuds role specific to the RCMP to ensure a level of accountability.”¹⁸> Staff Sergeant Ron Lewis described why this kind of oversight is needed. He said:

[T]he senior executives of the RCMP have delegated authority, under the RCMP Act, for internal investigations and discipline. They determine if an investigation should be initiated, who conducts the investigation, who’s to be charged, the type of discipline, and finally, they’re involved in the appeal process. It’s totally internal. Therefore, when allegations of wrongdoing are made against the senior executives, they are in a conflict of interest. The potential or even the perception of cover-up is real.¹⁹

Given the clear conflicts that developed, the unwillingness to pursue timely investigations, and the lack of disciplinary proceedings resulting from the case under consideration, the Committee agrees that more independent ethics oversight is needed. The current Commissioner, William Elliott seemed receptive to this possibility. He said, “One of the options that I think should be looked at is the potential for an ombudsman with more defined authorities than we currently have for the Ethics Advisor.”²⁰ An independent ethics advisor would ensure that accountability is imposed by, and in some instances upon, senior management. He or she would also ensure that senior management establishes and maintains an appropriate ethical culture within the RCMP. Consequently, the Committee recommends that:

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 initiate Code of Conduct investigations and to recommend that outside police forces conduct a criminal investigation when warranted.