This “Wacky” Police Force Doesn’t Want You if You Live at Home?
By
Terry Mallenby, BA, BSW, MA
former federal peace officer
Preface
As the title states, what kind of “wacky” police force would rule a young clean-cut kid out because he lived at home?
Apparently this one?
It’s peculiar about this outfit; you hear one horror story about them and think ‘one off’.
Then you hear another horror story, and you think ‘two off’.
Then you hear more, and more horror stories and you think, has anyone amalgamated these horror stories under one cover.
This is the intent of this book, a compilation of apparent horror stories about this police force.
Incredibly, a simple web search came up with the majority of horror stories in this book.
They implied they were the best, but after reading the horror stories, maybe they are one of the worst?
One thing is sure, maybe you can’t believe anything they say.
If anyone has been convicted on the testimony of any of these police officers who apparently outright lied or fabricated statements in their own ‘sad’ defenses against some horrific crimes … should there be a judicial review?
If nothing else, once the author scratched below the surface, it turned out that maybe some of these police officers were themselves just ‘plain sick’.
The proof is in the crimes they committed.
Apparently, this police force kept the lid on their behavior for decades; now the truth has come out … the genie is out of the bottle:
Liars, perjury, theft, thugs, drunk drivers, sex scandals, and worse …
The author had to ask: “are these police officers psychologically tested”?
The author, although not an expert, has some facility in the field [see Appendix 2a] and does question the efficacy of whatever ‘psych’ testing is being done?
Terry Mallenby, BA, BSW, MA
former federal peace officer
Index
Page 10 - Introduction
Page 12 - Chapter 1 [“the RCMP had done “f--- all here for 25 years”]
Page 17- Chapter 2 [“Ramsay preyed on young aboriginal women”]
Page 19 - Chapter 3 [“RCMP's internal probe fizzled”]
Page 20 - Chapter 4 [“Frizzell’s protestations fell on deaf ears"]
Page 22 - Chapter 5 [“a serious gender gap exists within the RCMP”]
Page 24 - Chapter 6 [“reckless campaign of sexual harassment”]
Page 26 - Chapter 7 [“RCMP engaged in racial and religious discrimination”]
Page 28 - Chapter 8 [there’s always some rogue defending this police force]
Page 31 - Chapter 9 [“a homophobic culture within the RCMP”]
Page 33 - Chapter 10 [“derogatory comments were made about his disability”]
Page 35 - Chapter 11 [This police force is "horribly broken"]
Page 40 - Chapter 12 ["the administration of the RCMP pension constituted a breach of trust”]
Page 43 - Chapter 13 [“Stay quiet, don't say a word”]
Page 50 - Chapter 14 [“investigations stopped as allegations got too close to RCMP's senior management”]
Page 53 - Chapter 15 [“RCMP Ron Lewis took his concerns to Alcock and McLellan, they did nothing”]
Page 55 - Chapter 16 [“Barbara George RCMP's Deputy Commissioner in contempt”]
Page 57 - Chapter 17 [RCMP Commissioner William Elliott’s behavior "abusive, ignorant" and "bullying"]
Page 62 - Chapter 18 ["Nothing will happen to the four RCMP officers who caused Robert's death”]
Page 66 - Chapter 19 [“No one but a moron (RCMP Commissioner William Elliott) overlooks the import of an e-mail like this”]
Page 71 - Chapter 20 [“RCMP Staff Sgt. Ross Spenard thought he covered his tracks by shredding documents”]
Page 73 - Chapter 21 [“Chief Judge Carol Baird Ellan said RCMP Const. Donovan Tait's story isn't credible”]
Page 81 - Chapter 22 [“RCMP have denied using excessive force in the arrest of a 70-year-old woman”]
Page 83 - Chapter 23 [“RCMP officer was drunk and forced his way into a Winnipeg home, spooking the female resident”]
Page 85 - Chapter 24 [“drunk RCMP Corporal Benjamin Robinson ploughed his Jeep into a 21-year-old motorcyclist, as Orion Hutchinson lay dying, Cpl. Robinson left the scene”]
Page 92 - Chapter 25 [“the RCMP did little about allegations of sexual assault at the Kingsclear Training School by one of its own officers”]
Page 99 - Chapter 26 [“RCMP Officer Gary Stevens is sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting two teenage girls”]
Page 103 - Chapter 27 [“RCMP Const. Norman Lapointe guilty of having sex several times in his marked police car -- while on duty and in uniform”]
Page 105 - Chapter 28 [“Heinous killing under his new identity”]
Page 110 - Chapter 29 [“Ian Bush, 22, shot in the back of the head and killed by RCMP Constable Paul Koester while in police custody”]
Page 112 - Chapter 30 [“Three men who were shot by a jealous RCMP Officer bent on killing his ex-girlfriend”]
Page 114 - Chapter 31 [“Senior RCMP Officer charged with shoplifting”]
Page 121 - Chapter 32 [“RCMP Officer stabbed an Ottawa police officer to death in his cruiser”]
Page 124 - Chapter 33 [Mr. Carter got a PhD from California's Pacific Western University, which the U.S. government in 2004 accused of being a "diploma mill"]
Page 127 - Chapter 34 [“Those that blab threatened”]
Page 129 - Chapter 35 [“Here’s an honest Psychologist”]
Page 133 - Chapter 36 [“Pacifica has applied to APA for consideration”]
Page 143 - Chapter 37 [“Never did get psychologist’s report”]
Page 148 - Chapter 38 [“If you live with your family don’t apply to this police force”]
Page 151 - Chapter 39 [“If you have two university degrees don’t apply to this police force”]
Page 153 - Chapter 40 [“If you resign from a job for good reason this police force doesn’t want you”]
Page 157 - Chapter 41 [“However, if you have a drug conviction you are welcomed by this police force”]
Page 162 - Chapter 42 [“The RCMP said that failing to start a search for the pair was a mistake”]
Page 166 - Chapter 43 [“The Ultimate Incompetence”]
Page 169 - Chapter 44 [“RCMP arrogance in bungling of Pickton case”]
Page 173 - Chapter 45 [“Air India families wait 25 years for answers from RCMP]
Page 177 - Chapter 46 [RCMP superiors “turn a blind eye”]
Page 179 - Chapter 47 [“the Ice Queen was on the RCMP's preferred customer list”]
Page 185 - Chapter 48 [“Jean Chretien's first association identified by the Sidewinder Report as a threat to Canada's public security”]
Page 188 - Chapter 49 [RCMP Corporal Robert Read urged by his RCMP superiors “to turn a blind eye”]
Page 192 - Chapter 50 [Canadian diplomat Brian McAdam “uncovered the lucrative sale of Canadian visas”]
Page 198 - Chapter 51 [“The presence of these drug groups in Canada is a threat to the United States”]
Page 203 - Chapter 52 [“Ressam was arrested by U.S Customs agents attempting to smuggle bomb-making material into the United States from Canada”]
Page 205 - Chapter 53 [“Cost of replacing the RCMP with our own BC Provincial Police Force”]
Page 209 - Chapter 54 [the RCMP “didn’t like being told what to do”]
Page 212 - Chapter 55 [“Champ said the case shows the RCMP’s tendency to try to protect its reputation at all costs”]
Page 217 - Chapter 56 [“Senior RCMP officer drafted a bogus memo to cover up”]
Page 219 - Chapter 57 [“Open Letter to Zofia Cisowski”]
Appendices
Page 224 - 1a “A Matter of Trust”
Page 225 - 1b RCMP ‘horribly broken' investigator finds
Page 228 - 1c Culture of Mounties 'horribly broken'
Page 231 - 2a ‘psychological’ research
Page 235 - 2b interested in the ‘little guy’
Page 237 - 3 Investigator fired 'without justification'
Page 241 - 4 “RCMP discriminated against Muslim cadet”
Page 244 - 5 ‘Federal court embarrassment’
Page 248 - 6 ‘stunning RCMP allegations’
Page 251 - 7 ‘shocked by details RCMP pension allegations’
Page 254 - 8 ‘ministers distance from RCMP scandal’
Page 257 - 9 'Still they get no consequences'
Page 261 - 10a “Mounties in Tasering should face prosecution”
Page 264 - 10b ‘Damning e-mail four officers committed perjury’
Page 268 - 10c ‘decided to electrocute him before they even saw him’
Page 270 - 11 ‘documents he thought had been destroyed’
Page 273 - 12 ‘RCMP boss piqued by Pickton criticism’
Page 276 - 13 “An Honest Man Speaks Out”
Page 279 - 14 “RCMP Corruption …”
Page 281 - 15 “Corruption and cover up”
Page 286 - 16 “One man's China crusade”
Page 291 - 17a “Chretien and Sidewinder”
Page 294 - 17b “The familial and financial”
Page 301 - 18 “China connection persists”
Page 305 - 19 ‘Internal investigations lead no where’
Page 310 - 20 “Case summary of RCMP External …”
Page 318 - 21 “Beef Up Porous Northern Border”
Page 325 - 22 “Plugging a Very Porous Border”
Page 330 - 23 “U.S. must 'harden' border”
Page 334 - 24 “Canada's Porous Border”
Page 336 - 25 “Canada's border porous despite …”
Page 339 - 26 “RCMP distances itself from officers …”
Page 341 - 27 “MPs rack up free trips”
Introduction
In comparison to the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] with similar numbers, with 28,576 total number of FBI employees, with a total number of special agents at 12,156, with 16,420 support professionals1 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] have a compliment of 28,700, with 1 Commissioner, 8 Deputy Commissioner, 26 Assistant Commissioners, 56 Chief Superintendents, 186 Superintendents, 433 Inspectors, 1 Corps Sergeant Major, 6 Sergeants Major, 16 Major Staff Sergeants, 928 Staff Sergeants, 2,090 Sergeants, 3,570 Corporals with 11,594 Constables.2
Can anyone say “top heavy”?
What about misconduct?
Are they similar?
As cited, “an internal FBI report kept under wraps for three years details dozens of cases of agents fired for egregious misconduct and crimes, including drug trafficking, attempted murder, theft, misuse of informants and consorting with prostitutes.”3
“The report, released Wednesday by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, found that about one in 1,000 agents was dismissed for serious misconduct or criminal offenses by the FBI during the period examined, from 1986 to 1999. The average was between eight and nine per year.”4
In comparison, the RCMP maintains that “building on its 130-year legacy, the RCMP has set its sights on being recognized around the world as an organization of excellence.”5
“In 2000, Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli set the goal of making the RCMP a strategically-focused organization of excellence.”6
“In pursuit of this goal, a more strategic approach has been applied to the RCMP’s structure and activities on both the operational and management sides of the organization.”7
You be the judge, after you read this book?
Footnotes
1. The FBI Work Force: By the Numbers
08/25/04
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:H53Tx3HOLPIJ:www.fbi.gov/page2/aug04/workforce082504.htm+NUMBER+OF+FBI+AGENTS&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
2. RCMP Organizational Structure
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/about-ausujet/organi-eng.htm
3 - 4. Years Of FBI Agent Crimes Detailed Report: 8 Or 9 Agents Dismissed Each Year For Misconduct
By Jarrett Murphy, CBS/AP, Washington, Feb. 19, 2004
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4mfZWTcz2y8J:www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/19/national/main601135.shtml+CRIMES+BY+FBI+AGENTS&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
5 - 7. An Organization of Excellence
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/fs-fd/excel-eng.htm
Chapter 1 [“the RCMP had done “f--- all here for 25 years”]
What kind of Police Force is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP]?
At the street level, according to Duxbury (2007), “their job is making them sick … employees of the RCMP report higher levels of job stress, overall stress, depressed mood, burnout, role overload and work interferes with family. They have high levels of work-life conflict and make significant use of Canada’s health care system. Many cope by having a drink or two to deal with the stress and coming to work when sick.”1
Why?
Could it be because of such episodes as Allen Dalstrom?2
Mr. Dalstrom was making about $100,000 a year as an investigator with the Organized Crime Agency of B.C., a joint operation between the Mounties and municipal police.3 Dalstrom was recruited to OCABC in the year 2000. Prior to that, Dalstrom was a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department (“VPD”).4
As noted, “Allen Dalstrom’s troubles began when he opposed the RCMP’s attempt to shut down a major drug investigation by the OCABC. Mr. Dalstrom was the lead investigator on the probe, called Project Phoenix, which was targeting Hells Angels. The RCMP, though it had officers on the OCABC, was upset that Phoenix might jeopardize its own parallel undercover drug investigation. It is widely believed that Mr. Dalstrom’s successful defense of Phoenix earned him the eternal enmity of the RCMP.”5
As further noted, “Rob Gordon, head of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said if Dalstrom’s allegations are true, and key Hells Angels members escaped justice because of police infighting, the provincial government needs to take a hard look at how B.C. is policed.”6
“It’s outrageous,” he said. “And no professional police service anywhere else on the face of the earth would tolerate it.”7
Gordon said the current patchwork of RCMP and municipal police in Metro Vancouver simply isn’t working.8
What did the RCMP level against Dalstrom in retaliation, “one RCMP officer said Mr. Dalstrom urged him to massage wiretap affidavits to give them a better chance of succeeding before a judge. Mr. Dalstrom was accused of harassing and intimidating another RCMP officer at the agency. It was also alleged he sexually harassed a female civilian employee ... Mr. Dalstrom was cleared of all those allegations.”9
However, “in July of that year he was terminated, with no explanation. In April, 2006, he filed his wrongful-dismissal suit.”10 As cited in court records. “if Dalstrom proves his allegations that Beverly Busson caused his termination without cause and for ulterior purposes knowing their actions were unlawful and would injure the plaintiff, he will have established the commission of the tort of misfeasance of public office.”11
At the time, Busson was also the commanding officer of the RCMP’s British Columbia Division and the Commissioner of the Provincial Police Force pursuant to the Police Act. Busson did not swear an affidavit in response to Dalstrom's petition.12
What happened to his suit, “the trial of Allen Dalstrom versus the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. had been under way in B.C. Supreme Court for only a few days when lawyers representing both sides approached Madam Justice Catherine Wedge asking for a temporary adjournment? It was granted. And although no one knew it then, a wrongful-dismissal case that threatened to level serious allegations of misconduct against high-ranking RCMP members would never resume.”13
In exchange for a settlement of $1.3-million plus salary and benefits, which put the amount of the settlement over $2-million when benefits are factored in, with Mr. Dalstrom walking away a rich man, the only promise he made “was to never reveal the terms of the offer or discuss details of the ugly internecine war many believe was ignited by the RCMP inside the walls of the OCABC, a joint operation between the Mounties and municipal police.”14
Why didn’t the RCMP want to pursue this case, as revealed: “at the time, the RCMP could not afford more damning headlines, given that support for Canada’s national police force was at an all-time low after the tasering death of Robert Dziekanski one year earlier [see Chapter 18]. On top of that, there were the in-custody deaths of Ian Bush and Kevin St. Arnaud that had raised serious questions about the conduct of the force in B.C. [see Chapter 29]. The turmoil rocking the RCMP has continued, most recently with the scathing findings of the commission set up to investigate Mr. Dziekanski’s death, and the similarly damning report from the Air India commission [see Chapter 45].”15
Because of such incidents, is the RCMP on the way out in British Columbia: “NDP solicitor-general critic Mike Farnworth noted the RCMP’s provincial policing contract is up for renewal in 2012 and it may be time to look at other options?”16
Maybe, British Columbia should push the RCMP out of the province. As noted, the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. had “no justification” for firing biker-gang investigator Allen Dalstrom, Port Moody Police Chief Brad Parker has argued in an affidavit filed in support of Dalstrom’s lawsuit. Parker, acting deputy chief of the OCABC from September 2003 to January 2004, stated that he believed the decision to fire Dalstrom was due to pressure the agency received from senior management within the RCMP.17
Dalstrom successfully argued there were no grounds to fire him and that Phoenix’s failure was due to RCMP jealousy over the creation of OCABC in 1999. Gary Bass, the head of the RCMP in B.C., and Bev Busson, the original head of OCABC and a former head of the RCMP in B.C., were instrumental in getting rid of Dalstrom. As further noted, “senior RCMP brass were also concerned about a comment in author Julian Sher’s book, The Road To Hell, in which an “OCA insider” said that, when it came to organized-crime investigations, the RCMP had done “f--- all here for 25 years” [see Appendix 3].18
In addition, “court documents show that Douglas, a former RCMP officer, has admitted to shredding documents about Dalstrom’s firing when he retired from the OCABC in 2005. “I shredded a lot of stuff ... when I left the Agency,” Douglas said in a deposition in November 2006. Asked by Dalstrom’s lawyer Kevin Woodall if shredding the documents was following OCABC policy, Douglas responded: “No.”19
The question must be asked: why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control and less costly if one as to pay out such lawsuits for RCMP mis-actions?
Footnotes
1. Linda Duxbury, The RCMP Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: An Independent Report concerning Workplace Issues at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. November 2, 2007
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/pubs/duxbury-eng.htm
2 - 3. Gary Mason, “The Mounties got their man, and the taxpayer paid,” Globe and Mail, Published on Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/the-mounties-got-their-man-and-the-taxpayer-paid/article1646832/
4. Oral Reasons for Judgment: Dalstrom v. Organized Crime Agency of BC,
In Chambers June 9, 2008. Docket: S062389. Registry: Vancouver. Citation: 2008 BCSC 844.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bUQPyKcskFoJ:www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/442264/2008bcsc0844.htm+allen+dalstrom+vancouver+police+officer&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
5. Gary Mason, “The Mounties got their man, and the taxpayer paid,” Globe and Mail, Published on Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/the-mounties-got-their-man-and-the-taxpayer-paid/article1646832/
6 - 8. “Police forces dysfunctional, says fired cop”
By Vancouver Sun July 8, 2008
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=6bf53476-f14c-4270-a473-c09c7941164d
9 - 10. Gary Mason, The Mounties got their man, and the taxpayer paid, Globe and Mail, Published on Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/the-mounties-got-their-man-and-the-taxpayer-paid/article1646832/
11 - 12. Oral Reasons for Judgment: Dalstrom v. Organized Crime Agency of BC, In Chambers June 9, 2008. Docket: S062389. Registry: Vancouver. Citation: 2008 BCSC 844.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bUQPyKcskFoJ:www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/442264/2008bcsc0844.htm+allen+dalstrom+vancouver+police+officer&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
13 - 15. Gary Mason, The Mounties got their man, and the taxpayer paid, Globe and Mail, Published on Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/the-mounties-got-their-man-and-the-taxpayer-paid/article1646832/
16. “Police forces dysfunctional, says fired cop”
By Vancouver Sun July 8, 2008
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=6bf53476-f14c-4270-a473-c09c7941164d
17 - 19. Investigator fired 'without justification':
The Organized Crime Agency of B.C. had “no justification” for firing biker-gang investigator Allen Dalstrom, Port Moody Police Chief Brad Parker has argued in an affidavit filed in support of Dalstrom’s lawsuit.
By Vancouver Sun July 8, 2008
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c11cb464-d8e2-4dd0-b70c-5e9ab93f78c1
See also: “The Road to Hell: How the Biker Gangs Are Conquering Canada” by Julian Sher and William Marsden.
Chapter 2 [“Ramsay preyed on young aboriginal women”]
In this case, as cited “a Kamloops RCMP constable is suing top-ranking members of his own police force, prosecutors and several cabinet ministers for $1 million in damages.”1
Why?
As noted, “in a writ filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Const. Joseph Dale Kohut seeks damages for a "malicious" investigation by the RCMP, who were looking into allegations that some Prince George police officers were complicitous or involved in abuse of prostitutes.”2
David Ramsay, a former provincial court judge, was sentenced in 2004 to seven years in jail after he was charged with preying on young aboriginal women, ranging in age from 12 to 17, over an eight-year period beginning in 1992. Ramsay pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm, three counts of obtaining sexual services from someone under 18 and breach of trust by a public officer.3
After his conviction, B.C. aboriginal leaders demanded an inquiry into allegations that surfaced at Ramsay's trial that at least 10 police officers knew about Ramsay's conduct and either looked the other way or got involved. The RCMP created a special task force called Project E Prevails to look into the stories about its officers.4
Kohut was stationed in Prince George from April 1991 to June 2004 and had to "deal with, and reveal his identity to, individuals involved in prostitution and the drug trade," the writ states. It says Kohut was told Jan. 31, 2005, that he was the subject of a criminal and internal investigation.5
In March 2005, RCMP went to the home of Kohut's ex-wife Sandi Quayle and told her "he had engaged in violent sexual relations with child prostitutes," the writ says. The investigators knew Kohut and Quayle were separated and "engaged in a spirited custody battle" over their daughter. "As a result . . . Const. Kohut lost custody of his daughter," the writ claims.6
It also alleges that RCMP investigators then went to Kohut's current wife Lisa, told her Kohut "had engaged in violent sexual relations with child prostitutes . . . and inquired as to whether Lisa Kohut was infected with a sexually transmitted disease."7
Bob Sandbach of Prince George, whose late daughter Celynn was just 13 when she was attacked by Ramsay, was outraged to hear of Kohut's lawsuit against the RCMP. "This is why we're demanding a public inquiry into how a prominent and well-known judge could have openly picked up and abused all these underage girls, like my daughter, without the police knowing," said Sandbach.8
"My daughter told me by name about several police officers who abused her or were regular dates paying for sex." Sandbach said the allegations in Kohut's writ, which he read yesterday, "prove this whole thing just stinks."9
He said he is "outraged" that Kohut considers himself a victim. His daughter, Celynn, 22, who had been battling drugs died in hospital April 1.10
On Oct. 3, 2006, Kohut's writ alleges, RCMP internal investigator Sgt. Armin Teitz disclosed Kohut's "identity to the mass media" and said Kohut had been "suspended on the basis of reliable evidence that he had engaged in sexual relations with minors involved in prostitution."11
Kohut says he suffered "pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, embarrassment and loss of reputation, loss of opportunity for advancement, loss of the opportunity to earn income and extensive legal expenses."12
Again, the question must be asked: why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control and less costly if one as to pay out such lawsuits for RCMP mis-actions?
Footnotes
1 - 12. “Cop sues RCMP over sex probe”
By The Vancouver Province November 27, 2007
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=2b7d502e-6066-4c42-934b-c7a3bf810ae8&k=13952
Chapter 3 [“RCMP's internal probe fizzled”]
As cited, “for an eight-year period in Prince George starting in 1992, former provincial court judge David Ramsay openly preyed on young, often underage aboriginal girls. Ramsay was charged with several sex-abuse counts in 2003.” 1
“Ramsay was charged and, after a lengthy trial, sentenced June 1, 2004, to seven years in jail. In September of this year, he was denied early day parole.” 2
“In 2004, the RCMP launched its own internal investigation, Project E Prevails, after allegations surfaced during and after the Ramsay case that approximately 12 of the complainants alleged they had engaged in paid sexual encounters with members of the RCMP." 3
“Then-assistant RCMP commissioner Gary Bass, who is also named in Kohut's suit, said police didn't do anything about it at the time because so many officers ‘in a small town’ like Prince George had been named by prostitutes.” 4
“The RCMP decided to proceed against Const. Justin Harris in 2005. The RCMP eventually alleged that Harris, who was at one time Const. Joseph Kohut's partner, behaved in ‘disgraceful manner’ while he worked in Prince George, sexually touched an underage prostitute during an improper search, and on another occasion paid her for sex.” 5
“But the force lost its internal case due to the delay in proceeding with the case.” 6
“Kohut, who Prince George Const. Gary Godwin described as ‘a very fine, fit constable when I worked with him briefly several years ago’ is still working in Kamloops.” 7
Was it another example of RCMP justice for none?
Footnotes
1 – 7. RCMP's internal probe fizzled
By The Vancouver Province November 27, 2007. CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
Chapter 4 [“Frizzell’s protestations fell on deaf ears"]
As noted, “an Ottawa-based RCMP officer, who was at the centre of a probe into mismanagement of the agency's pension and insurance funds, is suing the force and several current and former high-ranking members for more than $26 million … the lawsuit names several other defendants, including former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, current Commissioner William Elliott, former deputy commissioner Barbara George.”1
As further stated, “according to a statement of claim filed June 4 in Ontario Superior Court, Staff Sgt. Mike Frizzell was assigned to the probe in 2004 and during the investigation -- dubbed Project Probity -- he and other investigators uncovered millions of dollars that had been diverted from the RCMP's insurance and pension funds to cover agency expenses.”2
Yet, when he started to voice concerns about the alleged improprieties, he attracted the "ire and rage" of the force, was threatened and harassed, and ultimately pulled from the investigation, according to the claim.3
The lawsuit states that when Frizzell attempted to bring to light his concerns about the misuse of RCMP pension funds, his "protestations fell on deaf ears." Instead, he was accused of harassing witnesses and served with a written order in 2005 to stop work on the investigation. Two years later, a report from government-appointed investigator David Brown found that Frizzell was "pursuing legitimate issues" and called the work-stop order "troubling."4
"He believed so strongly in the integrity of the organization to continue to push when he saw wrongdoing in the organization that he admired his entire life," the report said. "It is regrettable his commitment to the organization was met with manipulation and false accusations."5
The lawsuit states that Frizzell who has been off-duty sick since May 2008 -- lost his professional reputation and suffered serious emotional and psychological damage: "His career with the RCMP is effectively over," the lawsuit states.6
Again: why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control and less costly if one as to pay out such lawsuits for RCMP mis-actions?
Footnotes
1 - 6. Ottawa RCMP officer sues force for $26 million
Douglas Quan – June 10, 2010
http://fairwhistleblower.ca/content/ottawa-rcmp-officer-sues-force-26-million
Also see: “This is not the RCMP I joined: The RCMP Pension and Insurance Scandal” [ISBN#9781897508091] by Ron Lewis. As mentioned: “at the end of a thirty-five career in the RCMP, Ron Lewis faced his most formidable case ever: exposing and bringing to justice those within the organization who threatened to destroy the culture and values of the RCMP, and steal from the members themselves. From a parliamentary hearing to Project Probity, the RCMP pension scandal as told by the man who saw it through … This was not the RCMP Ron Lewis joined. He wouldn’t let it be the Force he left, either.” General Store Publishing House, 499 O'Brien Rd. Box 415, Renfrew, Ontario K7V 4A6, 1-800-465-6072, orders@gsph.com.
Chapter 5 [“a serious gender gap exists within the RCMP”]
As noted, “a serious gender gap exists within the RCMP in B.C., with female officers far less likely than their male colleagues to believe they are treated fairly and that their rights are respected, according to an internal survey obtained by CanWest News Service.”1
“It is ... a traditional organization that prides itself on spit-and-polish as opposed to more modern forms of policing.”2
“The RCMP in B.C. has also experienced its share of sexual-harassment scandals.”3
In January 2006, RCMP Const. Nancy Sulz won a $950,000 lawsuit for long-term harassment she suffered under her former detachment commander at the Merritt, B.C. detachment.4
The B.C. Supreme Court found her superior officer, Staff Sgt. Donald Smith, began harassing her after she got pregnant.”5
The judge in that case, Justice George Lamperson, ruled that Smith’s actions, while “abrupt, demanding and unfeeling ... were consistent with his experience of the paramilitary command structure of the RCMP,” a style the judge found “was no longer appropriate in the modern RCMP.”6
Footnotes
1 - 3. Female RCMP officers in B.C. say they're not treated fairly: report
By CanWest News Service October 28, 2007
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Rb2Um_YBxw4J:www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html%3Fid%3D5339356d-4e60-4cee-ac79-23f79478da8d%26k%3D97223+RCMP+Const.+Nancy+Sulz+wins+a+%24950,000+lawsuit&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
4. RCMP scandals and setbacks since 2006
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Thursday, Mar. 29, 2007 12:39PM EDT
Last updated on Tuesday, Mar. 31, 2009 10:28PM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article750473.ece
5 - 6. Female RCMP officers in B.C. say they're not treated fairly: report
By CanWest News Service October 28, 2007
Chapter 6 [“reckless campaign of sexual harassment”]
A Manitoba RCMP officer is suing her employer for what she calls “an intentional and reckless campaign” of sexual and emotional harassment and discrimination that allegedly spanned 15 years and two provinces.1
“Sherry-Lee Benson-Podolchuk is seeking unspecified financial damages from the Mounties in a statement of claim obtained Monday by the Winnipeg Free Press.”2
“Benson-Podolchuk, 44, claims the alleged abuse forced her to go on disability from stress and has caused other ailments including clinical depression, anxiety and loss of self-esteem.”3
“Benson-Podolchuk, a resident of Winnipeg Beach, Man., says her problems began while she was posted at the RCMP detachment in Tisdale in 1991 to start what she thought would be a promising career in law enforcement.”4
“She was repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment and other harassment by male members of the RCMP,” her lawsuit claims.5
“Benson-Podolchuk cites specific alleged incidents including hearing improper sexual comments from fellow officers in public, at the police station and even over the RCMP radio.”6
“She said a dead chicken was placed in her private gun locker, with blood dripping down into her personal belongings.”7
What kind of swine are these RCMP to do this?
Another so-called “prank” involved tampering with the stall door inside the women’s washroom, she claims.8
“Benson-Podolchuk said she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 1992, which resulted in her being transferred to a new posting in Selkirk, Man.”9
“Her lawyer claims the human-rights complaint essentially “blackballed” her in the eyes of her superiors and co-workers.”10
Benson-Podolchuk has also accused RCMP of trying to obtain confidential medical information from her doctor, pulling her over during a highway traffic stop for no reason and threatening “consequences” if she didn’t quit.11
“She says the abuse left her afraid to go to work, embarrassed, intimidated and afraid for her personal safety.”12
Nancy Sulz, a former RCMP constable in B.C. who was harassed by her supervising officer, successfully fought a decade-long battle against the federal government and the RCMP and won $950,000 damages last year.13
The harassment award is the largest-ever imposed against the RCMP.14
A B.C. Supreme Court judge and an internal RCMP adjudicator found Sulz had been the victim of continuing harassment while working at the Merritt detachment in the mid-1990s.15
Once again: why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control and less costly if one as to pay out such lawsuits for RCMP mis-actions?
Footnotes
1 - 15. Manitoba Mountie Files Sexual Harassment Suit
Regina Leader-Post, RCMP Watch: Who is keeping them accountable?
Chapter 7 [“RCMP engaged in racial and religious discrimination”]
In this suit, as cited, “the RCMP engaged in racial and religious discrimination when it expelled a Muslim man from its cadet academy, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled, paving the way for the man’s return to training 11 years after his dismissal.”1
“The decision upholds a finding by a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2008 that Ali Tahmourpour, 37, faced verbal abuse and hostility from instructors, ridicule over his wearing of religious jewellery, and poor performance evaluations while enrolled in the RCMP’s Regina cadet academy (known as the Depot).”2
“I finally have vindication,” Tahmourpour said from his Mississauga home, saying he intends to return to the academy to fulfill his dream of becoming a member of the RCMP.3
“My great-grandfather was a mounted police chief in the western mountains of Persia, so it runs in the family.”4
The Iranian-born Tahmourpour says his troubles began on the first day of training when he was singled out by his instructors for asking to wear a religious pendant during physical education class. He testified that one officer, Corporal Dan Boyer, head instructor of the firearms unit, was particularly hostile and verbally abusive towards him, often screaming in his ears at the firing range that he was a “loser,” a “coward,” and “f—ing useless.”5
On one occasion, Boyer watched Tahmourpour sign his name on an evaluation form in the “Persian” style of right to left and is alleged to have stated: “What kind of f—ing language is that, or is it something that you’ve made up?”6
What a boob this Boyer was … didn’t have a clue about other cultures!
Justice Karen Sharlow this week upheld the tribunal’s 2008 ruling, stating the RCMP’s “discriminatory treatment of Mr. Tahmourpour denied him the opportunity to complete his training at the Depot and to make his living as an RCMP officer.”7
The Court of Appeal noted in its ruling this week that the RCMP did not challenge these claims, nor other findings of the tribunal that racist jokes during sensitivity training were condoned by instructors and that Tahmourpour’s performance evaluations were fabricated and influenced by “discriminatory attitudes.”8
“The most troubling aspect of the case is the way the RCMP fought it for so many years,” he said. “The test for an organization is how it responds to these kinds of incidents. The actions of those instructors definitely does not reflect the RCMP as a whole, but what does reflect the RCMP as a whole is how they respond. And they definitely failed on that front.”9
Footnotes
1 - 9. RCMP discriminated against Muslim cadet, court rules
By Kenyon Wallace, Postmedia News July 21, 2010
[See Appendix 4]
Chapter 8 [there’s always some rogue defending this police force]
It appears there’s always some rogue defending this police force?
One must ask: where did this Ezra Levant obtain all of this “in-house” information supposedly about Ali Tahmourpour?
It would appear the RCMP themselves spoon-fed Ezra Levant these apparent bogus details?
Why?
Apparently, to belittle Ali Tahmourpour and his victory over them?
As cited, no sooner was the favorable decision in about Ali Tahmourpour win in Federal Court about the RCMP discrimination,1 then the cries by the less enlightened appeared, “Federal court embarrassment: Decision in favor of washed out RCMP cadet who has made a career out of crying racism must be overturned.”2
For example, this tirade by Ezra Levant about Ali Tahmourpour win in Federal Court about the RCMP discrimination ran in the Comment section of a good number of Canadian newspapers.3
Why?
Was the media in ‘cahoots’ with the RCMP in an effort to help overturn Ali Tahmourpour’s win against them?
Did you expect anything else from Canada’s “impartial” news media?
Apparently, sometimes, the bias is so obvious it is palpable?
As Levant raged: “in 1999, an immigrant from Iran named Ali Tahmourpour enrolled in the RCMP’s police academy, but washed out after just 12 weeks.”4
When Tahmourpour got the bad news, he had a breakdown. His classmates escorted him to the infirmary twice because he was “vomiting, shaking, hyperventilating and was incoherent.”5
An RCMP psychologist declared him to be a suicide risk. Three of his fellow cadets testified: “they would be afraid to work with him in the field.” A note was put on his file: Unlike other wash-outs, Tahmourpour would not be allowed to reapply as a student.6
Others might have moved on, but not Tahmourpour. He cried racism. And he ran to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, claiming the RCMP violated his “human right” to become a cop.7
“Ever since, he has done nothing but sue and appeal, sue and appeal. He went on welfare. He took a real estate course and sold one house as of 2008. For 10 years he didn’t put much effort at all into finding a job, according to the Human Rights Commission. Not exactly the way to convince the RCMP they had misjudged him.”8
“But Tahmourpour didn’t need to impress the RCMP. He just needed to impress the Federal Court of Appeal. Last week, they upheld a human-rights ruling calling the RCMP racist and ordering them to readmit Tahmourpour to the academy.”9
In Levant’s book, Shakedown, he “included Tahmourpour’s case as one of the worst cases in Canada. It unfairly smears the RCMP, it rewards a lay about and, if allowed to stand, will destroy any personnel standards for the RCMP.”10
Guess what Levant, there’s news for you, the RCMP have already destroyed their own personal standards – just read the books and reports about this “horribly broken” police force [Appendix 1a – 1c]? 11
Footnotes
1. RCMP discriminated against Muslim cadet, court rules
By Kenyon Wallace, Postmedia News July 21, 2010
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:YIIzjDk5Mo8J:www.vancouversun.com/news/RCMP%2Bdiscriminated%2Bagainst%2BMuslim%2Bcadet%2Bcourt%2Brules/3306860/story.html+federal+suit+against+rcmp&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca
2. Federal court embarrassment: Decision in favor of washed out RCMP cadet who has made a career out of crying racism must be overturned
http://blackkettle.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/decision-in-favour-of-washed-out-rcmp-cadet-who-has-made-a-career-out-of-crying-racism-must-be-overturned/
[see Appendix 5]
3. Federal court embarrassment
Levant: Decision in favor of washed out RCMP cadet who has made a career out of crying racism must be overturned.
http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79392&Itemid=2
[see Appendix 5]
4 - 10. Comment: Federal court embarrassment - Decision in favor of washed out RCMP cadet who has made a career out of crying racism must be overturned
Last Updated: July 25, 2010 12:00am
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2010/07/23/14808791.html
[see Appendix 5]
Also cited in:
Comment: Federal court embarrassment - Decision in favor of washed out RCMP cadet who has made a career out of crying racism must be overturned
Last Updated: July 25, 2010 12:00am
http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/2010/07/23/14808861.html
[see Appendix 5]
11. David Brown’s Report “A Matter of Trust”
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/rcmppension-retraitegrc/_fl/report-en.pdf
[See Appendix 1a – 1c]
Chapter 9 [“a homophobic culture within the RCMP”]
In another suit, “a senior RCMP investigator in Toronto, who is gay, claims in a lawsuit that a "homophobic culture" within the force and unfounded child sex-assault allegations led to a very public arrest on a golf course and lengthy suspension that ruined his reputation.”1
“In late 2004, four B.C. men came forward with accusations that Donald Cooke sexually assaulted them when he coached them in minor hockey in the 1980s in that province. According to the lawsuit, B.C. Crown prosecutors reviewed the evidence and recommended against charges.”2
But in May 2005, investigators from B.C., with the help of Ontario authorities, arrested Cooke. According to the suit, a procession of officers in golf carts approached Cooke on the third green of a private golf course in Aurora, Ont., "for the purpose of maximizing the embarrassment and humiliation of Cooke."3
“The force suspended Cooke while the investigation continued. Cooke, meanwhile, went on indefinite sick leave.”4
“After reviewing the case a second time, B.C. prosecutors concluded there was still not enough evidence to charge him. Yet, Cooke's suspension stretched on for four years, according to the suit.”5
The suit, filed in March, seeks more than $13 million in damages.6
Insp. Tim Shields, a B.C. RCMP spokesman, denied Thursday that the intent of investigators was to humiliate Cooke.7
In an e-mailed statement from RCMP headquarters in Ottawa, a spokesman said: "The RCMP strives to preserve and share in the cultural diversity presence across the country by providing a police service which is culturally sensitive to the many people who make Canada their home.”8
Really, now?
What about, “B.C. aboriginal leaders demanded an inquiry into allegations that surfaced at Ramsay's trial that at least 10 [RCMP] police officers knew about Ramsay's conduct and either looked the other way or got involved” cited in Chapter 2 of this book?
Or maybe, “Nancy Sulz, a former RCMP constable in B.C. who was harassed by her supervising officer, successfully fought a decade-long battle against the federal government and the RCMP and won $950,000 damages last year” cited in Chapter 6 of this book?
Yep, sounds like the RCMP accepts everyone into their ranks, with open arms, doesn’t it?
However, as further cited by this RCMP ‘mouth-piece’: "the RCMP is committed to promoting and supporting equity within its employment practices. RCMP policy reflects all laws prohibiting discrimination on any grounds as defined by the Canadian Human Rights Act."9
“At the time of his arrest in 2005, Cooke had been with the force for 23 years and was a sergeant in the organized crime unit.”10
What?
This guy was with the RCMP for 23 years?
Footnotes
1 - 10. Gay Mountie's $13M lawsuit says RCMP ruined his reputation
By Douglas Quan, Canwest News Service June 10, 2010
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Mountie+lawsuit+says+RCMP+ruined+reputation/3138457/story.html
Chapter 10 [“derogatory comments were made about his disability”]
Yet another case against the RCMP.
As reported, “a former spokesman for the Kamloops RCMP is suing the force for systematic harassment while on the job in 2004 and 2005.”1
Brian Leigh Flanagan claims he was a victim of “continued and pointed harassment” by his fellow officers. 2
“In a writ of summons filed in court, he alleges derogatory comments were made about his disability and job performance.” 3
“He further alleges that defendant Ian MacDonald, an RCMP member, made false statements about him to the public.” 4
“Flanagan, who resigned from Kamloops RCMP in September 2005, is unemployed.”5
Footnotes
1 – 5. Ex-Mountie sues over ‘pointed harassment’
Nov 18, 2007
(Vancouver Province)
http://www.rcmpwatch.com/category/corruption-within-the-rcmp/
Also see: Ex-Mountie sues over 'pointed harassment'
By The Vancouver Province, CanWest MediaWorks Publications November 18, 2007
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=03a4741b-d80c-436c-8162-24bf71a4a414
There was this Comment:
Brian,
Please contact me at
I can completely relate to your story as many others can as well. This is illegal activity that members must be held accountable for. The RCMP denies it is happening, but many know it goes on all the time.
I am trying to build cases to present to the House of Commons.
Ah, a lone individual trying to correct the RCMP – wow, what a job!
One must ask: Where are the ‘concerned’ politicians to help this person out?
Chapter 11 [This police force is "horribly broken"]
As noted, “the years of RCMP foot-dragging, denials and career reprisals. Three months of embarrassing parliamentary hearings and finally a damning report on the RCMP's mismanagement.”1
Denise Revine “stood out in the group of five who went public with their charges against the force. A woman among men. A public servant among police officers. She was a director in the RCMP's human resources division in spring 2003 when she was assigned an extensive budget review – and discovered how senior RCMP officials were misspending millions of dollars of members' pension funds and, it later turned out, insurance funds.”2
Revine and her supervisor, Chief Supt. Fraser Macaulay, “who took up her concerns, were sent packing as a result. In Feb. 2004, her job was: budget cuts, a boss explained; humiliating her in public … Today, she's coping with what doctors tell her is post-traumatic stress disorder – the kind of long-term emotional distress soldiers endure after returning home from battle.”3
Another was Fraser Macaulay who was “punted from the RCMP to the Department of National Defense for coming forward. Then RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told the whole country at a Commons committee that Macaulay hadn't come forward soon enough, that it wasn't a punishment transfer, but for Macaulay's own good "so he could learn from his mistake."4
Macaulay, a deep red flush creeping up his neck, couldn't believe what he was hearing.5
The outcome, “the corrosive effect of facing his bosses' wrath and colleagues' doubts began to take a toll on his health, personal relationships and on his "core beliefs in the organization.”6
Another was Mike Frizzell “who shocked the committee with a tape recording of his calm call to an RCMP manager who accused him of shouting and harassing employees in interviews.”7
Frizzell was yanked off the Ottawa police probe of the pension misspending when he began asking tough questions about the role of senior RCMP managers, including deputy commissioner Barbara George. His laptop was wiped and backup copies of data "went missing" from his desk.8
David Brown's report into the RCMP said the force's management structure was "horribly broken" and called for sweeping changes.9
Fraser found that dozens of employees had been hired through nepotism and in some cases been overpaid, at a total cost to the taxpayer of around $1.3-million.10
About $3.4 million in improper expenses were charged to the plan: "An estimated $1.3 million was charged to the pension and insurance plans to pay for commissions or products that provided little or no value, and for excessive payments to employees' friends and family members hired as temporary staff."11
Rank-and-file officers have also expressed their disgust with the situation. In September of last year, members of the RCMP's staff relations representative committee drafted a memo describing the handling of the investigation as "truly unacceptable."12 “Accountability,“ as specific and tough as that word sounds, has become a vague, loose term in our organization," the memo read.13
Author Paul Palango believes that the structure of the police force itself is a major problem ... the RCMP is “so dysfunctional” … As long as you leave the RCMP the way it is, it is ungovernable, it is unmanageable, Palango told the Straight by phone from Nova Scotia.14
“B.C. based police psychologist Mike Webster notes that the RCMP workplace has long been a toxic environment.”15
Robert Gordon is the director of SFU’s school of criminology said the RCMP “needs to pull out of municipal and provincial policing. It needs to figure out what its role in national policing is in Canada. There is a need for a body that has a national investigative function. The [RCMP] organization as it is currently constructed is an anachronism.”16
Paul Palango in his book, “In Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP,” he demonstrates how municipalities that contract RCMP services are getting ripped off.17
Most importantly Dispersing the Fog is about our justice system in general and a wake-up call for any Canadian concerned about the security and integrity of the country in our post 9/11 world.18
Palango builds on the powerful and influential arguments made in his first two RCMP books, Above the Law and The Last Guardians, to show Canadians why they should be concerned about the RCMP, its mandate, its performance and its relationship to governments and politics.19
Once more: why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control and less costly if one as to pay out such lawsuits for RCMP mis-actions?
Footnotes
1 - 2. High cost of whistleblowing Five RCMP employees exposed a scandal at the top. Now they reflect on the price they paid
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau, Published On Sat Jun 30 2007
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/231204
3. “In July 2004, three months after receiving the letter declaring her position surplus and having continued on in a work environment that she was finding increasingly hostile, Ms. Revine was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and began paid sick leave that lasted a full year.” Reference to: Chapter 3: How the complainants were treated . Date Modified: 2008-03-13.
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/rcmppension-retraitegrc/chap3-eng.aspx
However, had Revine suffered as a lone individual that experienced lies and false statements by the RCMP, was chased around the world and kept unemployed, finally ending up with a disability pension due to the RCMP harassment suffering post-traumatic stress disorder - chronic type in the process, more sympathy could be shown Revine. As far as this lone individual is concerned she got a small taste of RCMP harassment. Reference to: Can police harassment involving illegal acts, false statements and fabricated evidence lead to a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder sufficient to approve permanent disability pension? Amicus No. 18458679, National Library of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
4 - 8. High cost of whistle blowing: Five RCMP employees exposed a scandal at the top. Now they reflect on the price they paid
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau, Published On Sat Jun 30 2007
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/231204
9. David Brown’s Report “A Matter of Trust”
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/rcmppension-retraitegrc/_fl/report-en.pdf
[See Appendix 1a]
See also: RCMP ‘horribly broken', investigator finds
Campbell Clark, Globe and Mail Update
Published Friday, Jun. 15, 2007
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article793889.ece
[See Appendix 1b]
See also: Culture of Mounties 'horribly broken'
Tonda MacCharles, Ottawa Bureau, Toronto Star
Published On Sat Jun 16 2007
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/226121
[See Appendix 1c]
10. RCMP scandal deepens: Officers allege highest levels of force involved in cover-up of pension fraud
Kady O'Malley and Chris Selley, Mar 29, 2007
http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20070329_091523_3204
11. March 2007: Committee hears stunning allegations about RCMP
CTV.ca News Staff
With a report from CTV's Graham Richardson in Ottawa
Date: Wed. Mar. 28 2007 11:04 PM ET
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20070328/rcmp_allegations_070328/?s_name=&no_ads=
12 - 13. RCMP scandal deepens: Officers allege highest levels of force involved in cover-up of pension fraud
Kady O'Malley and Chris Selley, Mar 29, 2007
http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20070329_091523_3204
14 - 16. Author Paul Palango calls RCMP “ungovernable”
Vancouver Free Press
By Carlito Pablo, July 28, 2010
http://69.90.96.34/article-336102/vancouver/author-paul-palango-calls-rcmp-ungovernable
17. Dispersing the Fog examines growing political tyranny in Canada
Vancouver Free Press
By Charlie Smith, November 6, 2008
http://www.straight.com/article-168868/dispersing-fog
18 - 19. Dispersing the Fog: Inside the Secret World of Ottawa and the RCMP
By Paul Palango
Press Release: October 16, 2008
http://www.dispersingthefog.com/
Chapter 12 ["the administration of the RCMP pension constituted a breach of trust”]
Although Sgt Frizzell was an RCMP officer stationed at Headquarters who was assigned to assist in the OPS investigation of the pension scam, and when he had some remaining concerns about funds being moved from the insurance plans and continued to pursue this matter, he was advised by RCMP Insp. Roy to desist any and all investigative activities.1
As cited, “it seems to me that Sgt Frizzell was pursuing legitimate issues. The fact that he was served with a written order, which I understand in itself to be extremely rare, by two senior ranking RCMP officers is troubling.”2
Thus, ended any chance of criminal charges.
Even in terms of internal discipline, it was not to be: “D/Commr Sweeney advised that, in early discussions with legal counsel, it was apparent to him that the applicable limitation periods had expired even before he was appointed. While D/Commr Sweeney concluded that breaches of the Code of Conduct had been committed, he also concluded he had no authority to initiate disciplinary action because of the expiry of the limitation period.”3
This is a notorious trick the RCMP pull when wrong-doings are discovered, they drag their feet until the statute of limitations runs out -- so none of their officers [especially senior ones] can be charged either criminally or under their so called disciplinary code.4
As emphasized, “receiving a written order to refrain from the work he was attempting to conclude in connection with the OPS investigation demeaned Sgt Frizzell's status. Even now it is a bit difficult to explain the order he was given. It also contributed to my conclusion that the criminal investigation was not independent of the RCMP. How could the RCMP (the subject of the investigation) have the authority to order an investigator to stop what he was doing?”5
The independent investigator appointed by the federal government to examine matters related to the RCMP pension and insurance plans, David Brown Q.C., former chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, concluded, "what happened in the administration of the RCMP pension and insurance plans constituted a fundamental breach of trust between the RCMP and its current and retired members," says Mr. Brown. "I found myself forced beyond these events to comment on a broader breach of trust between RCMP management and its members."6
As further noted, “Mr. Brown acknowledges that current governance problems at the RCMP are institutional and long-standing, however points to recent leadership deficiencies of former RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli as exacerbating the problems around the pension and insurance matters and overall culture of the RCMP.”7
"In an already fractured culture, senior management was projecting an attitude of disinterest and callousness in respect of an issue of legitimate concern to every single member - past and present - of the Force: their pensions. In the process, the Commissioner lost his troops."8
"It is clear that several individuals who were instrumental in reporting and reviewing mismanagement were treated very unfairly by RCMP management and Commissioner Zaccardelli.”9
Why do provinces put up with this police force, it would be less disastrous and more economically feasible to have their own provincial police forces -- more control?
Footnotes
1 - 3. The facts behind the controversy
Date Modified: 2008-03-13
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/rcmppension-retraitegrc/chap1-eng.aspx
4. See this reference where the same trick was pulled when RCMP S/Sgt. John Thomas Randle fabricated statements in 1979. Reference to: Is he Canada's example of another Mark Furman: R.C.M.P. Sgt. John ("Jack") Thomas Randle purposefully committed lies, fabricated evidence, made false statements & committed illegal acts, Amicus No 16972168, National Library of Canada.
Another trick the RCMP like to pull is keeping the person they are harassing unemployed and destitute: Reference to
Complete discharge from bankruptcy including preferred student loans due to Royal Canadian Mounted Police harassment: a most unusual case of bankruptcy, AMICUS No. 17576560, National Library of Canada.
The reader could also refer to: Judge John Gomery's inappropriate comments based on lies, false statements, fabricated statements & illegal acts by R.C.M.P. Sgt. John Thomas Randle. AMICUS No. 184586646560, National Library of Canada.
It’s ironic that when the current author was writing this book, someone was trying to interfere with his source of income?
Was it the RCMP?
5. Chapter 3: How the complainants were treated
Date Modified: 2008-03-13
http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/rcmppension-retraitegrc/chap3-eng.aspx
6 - 9. Federal Independent Investigator Releases Report on RCMP Pension and Insurance Plans
Jun 15, 2007 14:15 ET
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 15, 2007)
Chapter 13 [“Stay quiet, don't say a word”]
As mentioned, Sgt. Ron Lewis was the most vocal RCMP representative throughout the hearings. He's the one who accused RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli of "lying" and "orchestrating a cover-up."1
“Now, four years later, Lewis quips that the whole thing has badly cut into his golf game. That sense of humor and detachment, the others say, made him the perfect one to keep pressing the case to Zaccardelli.”2
“Lewis, a former undercover drug officer who spent years in small Newfoundland detachments and who knows the art of prosecutions, meticulously laid a paper trail of notes of conversations with senior managers, emails, responses, and reports.”3
He pushed for criminal investigations, audits, and action. When action didn't seem likely, he went to MPs and the media. Today, he still says there was a cover-up, not "mistakes in judgment" on Zaccardelli's part, as Brown said.4
As additionally mentioned, “following the previous day's incendiary allegations of fraud, theft and corruption within the most senior ranks of the RCMP, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced Thursday that he would be appointing an independent investigator to determine once and for all what actually happened.”5
According to Sgt. Ron Lewis, “former public safety minister Anne McLellan and former Treasury Board president Reg Alcock were informed of concerns over a cover-up that allegedly involved senior officials - including former RCMP Commissioner Giuliiano Zaccardelli - in February 2004, but did nothing.”6
Lewis says he provided the ministers with a 60-page document that gave "the whole story, basically." That, he says, includes "the inaction, the lies, the obstruction, the delays and the actual allegations of what they were, how much money's involved." He says that he asked the ministers to pass the information on to the Auditor General - who ultimately concluded that the matter lay outside the scope of her audit. - but that there "was no response from them."7
“On Wednesday, RCMP officers testified before the committee that there was a cover-up in the abuse of the police force's pension fund. They said senior members of the force - including then-commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli - tried to stall an investigation into the matter after the allegations first arose.”8
"I was met with inaction, delays, roadblocks, obstruction and lies," retired staff sergeant Ron Lewis told the committee. "[The] person who orchestrated most of this cover-up was commissioner Zaccardelli."9
“This week's developments cast further doubts on the RCMP as a whole. Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who presided over the pension fund investigation, resigned in December after months of withering criticism over the Mounties' involvement in Maher Arar's deportation to Syria - particularly over his conflicting testimony to a Commons committee. On Wednesday, several other officers backed Lewis' claims about the misuse of the pension funds.”10
RCMP Chief Supt. Fraser MacAulay added: "For the past few years, the RCMP has had a small group of managers who, through their actions and inactions, are responsible for serious breeches in our core values, the RCMP code of conduct and even the Criminal Code."11
The officers alleged that Zaccardelli and others blocked investigations and removed some who were asking uncomfortable questions. In blaming the leadership, Lewis said, "A culture was created by several senior executives where it was a danger for employees to report wrongdoings."12
Williams made the following observation to CTV News: "The orders from the top seem to be, 'Stay quiet, don't say a word, we're the RCMP, we have to be clean or look like we're clean' -- and they're not clean" [see Appendix 6].13
Incredibly, he said, when questioned in the House of Commons about the matter, McLellan replied that there was "no reason" to investigate the RCMP Commissioner.14
“CTV News tried to reach Zaccardelli for comment but was unsuccessful. CTV's Graham Richardson said from Ottawa that Zaccardelli will likely be called to testify in the coming days, given that his name came up repeatedly on Wednesday.”15
He said deputy commissioner Barbara George has stepped down from her position as head of human resources for the RCMP on Wednesday but will move to another job. "All members of that committee seemed very overwhelmed by what they heard. They seemed out of their depth. We're hearing they're going to call for a public inquiry," Richardson said.16
“In her office's November 2006 report, Auditor General Sheila Fraser wrote about fraud and abuse allegations in the management of the RCMP's pension and insurance plans that stemmed from 2003.”17
As further noted, Commissioner Zaccardelli is advised of the problem in June, 2003 based on irregularities discovered by Denise Revine in early 2003, “Ms. Revine was charged with responsibility for the A-Base Review. In the course of her work, she discovered a number of issues that caused her concern. She felt that monies belonging to the pension plan were being applied to uses that were at best peripheral to the administration of the pension plan. She also observed instances of contract splitting and inappropriate hiring practices.”18
What did Revine do, “Ms. Revine shared her concerns with her direct supervisor, C/Supt Macaulay, in early June 2003. C/Supt Macaulay advised Ethics Advisor, A/Commr John Spice, of these emerging concerns several days later. A/Commr Spice in turn discussed the matter with other senior officers, including A/Commr Barb George. Matters were taken out of C/Supt Macaulay's hands when A/Commr George insisted that C/Supt Macaulay come forward to the Commissioner.”19
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