The RCMP Pension Scandal

I'm trying to understand the nature of the RCMP Pension scandal. A lot of political posturing and accusations have been thrown back and forth but it's important to get to the root of the problem in order to fix it. It is essential to do so if we are to restore and preserve the integrity of the RCMP.

CBC reports that several years ago the RCMP tried to privatize or outsource the administration of it's pension and insurance fund to "save money." OK that's a big red flag right there. A reoccurring problem of fraud is revealed whenever government uses the word privatization to circumvent public accountability. Enron is the prime example. Likewise, the privatization of the RCMP Pension was met with similar misappropriated corruption. Every big corporation wants to get it's greedy little mitts on it's employees pension.

CTV claims the RCMP's human resources branch may have improperly diverted some of the money from the members' insurance fund to shore up other budgets. One blogger claims the RCMP has never been accountable to the public.

If we are going to restore and protect the integrity of the RCMP we need to do so by making it publicly accountable. That doesn't mean make a verbally abusive civilian the RCMP Commissioner. Civilian agencies created to investigate police complaints are essential. Yet a civilian commissioner is like having a civilian general. It doesn't make sense. Elliot is stepping down this summer. John McKay would make a good replacement as would Jim Chu.

To restore and protect the RCMP's integrity we need to:

1) Fix the pension. If money was wasted or borrowed to cover other budgets, replace those funds and report budgets to the public so that kind of misappropriation of funds doesn't happen again.

2) Fix the abusive nature of the administration. The obsession for cover up and the firing of whistle blowers needs to stop. Four officers charged with perjury in the Taser incident is not acceptable. Four officers facing criminal charges relating to one officer's inappropriate relationship with a witness is not acceptable.

3) Implement a civilian agency to monitor police complaints so the few bad apples that are consistently giving civilians the boots get replaced with officers who understand the motto to serve and protect.