RCMP civilian oversight agency has 'no teeth' and is 'fundamentally flawed' say lawyers

The agency charged with oversight of the RCMP, including across the North, is not only decades behind the national trend but rarely employs what limited powers it is legislated to use, according to some experts. 

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) for the RCMP provides oversight of complaints against the Mounties across Canada. But it can also conduct its own investigations and order its own hearings, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, which created the commission. 

"They have the power to conduct investigations, they have the power to hold a public inquiry into a complaint, but they don't do it," said Tom Engel, a criminal defence lawyer from Edmonton.

"It's actually a disgraceful process. They keep saying they have independent oversight, which is completely false," he said. 

Complaints against the RCMP are usually investigated by the RCMP themselves, according to the RCMP act. 

Experts have been saying for years that police investigating police is not best practice because police often protect other police, even from other agencies. 

After the RCMP investigates a complaint, if the complainant is unhappy with that investigation, they can request the complaints commission to review the file. 

The commission can then send the file back to the RCMP and ask for further investigating. 

Over the last three years, the commission received more than 7,000 complaints, commission spokesperson Kate McDerby told CBC. 

Of those complaints, 795 complainants asked for a review, McDerby said. 

Eighteen of those files were sent back to the RCMP for further investigation.

Six Nunavummiut asked for a review of their investigation, but McDerby said none of those were sent back for further investigation.   

Long delays

Engel said he recently received a report from the commission on a complaint for which he requested a review — more three years ago. 

"When you go to the CRCC to review the dismissal of a complaint, you don't get the investigative file. You don't get to see how the investigation was conducted," said Engel. 

There's no teeth in the CRCC.- Tom Engel, criminal defence lawyer

The report was also sent to the RCMP chief, as per the commission's process. 

"Then it'll be the commissioner doing a response in another year or year and a half. And the commissioner can just say, 'I don't agree.' So there's no teeth in the CRCC," Engel said. 

The national trend in police oversight is to have civilian-led investigations because police investigating police do not have the public's confidence, other experts told CBC.

The CRCC's predecessor, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, was created by parliament in 1988. 

In 2013, additional accountability measures were enacted, and the commission changed its name to emphasize civilian involvement in the process. But that involvement is usually limited to the review of investigations done by police — not in the investigation itself. 

Powers rarely used

There are some sections of the RCMP act that give the commission more powers. 

For example, if the commission is not satisfied with the RCMP commissioner's response to a complaint review, the commission can call a hearing.

That has not been done in the past five years, according to commission spokesperson McDerby. 

The commission can also decide to hold a hearing into a complaint review if it decides it would be in the public's interest.

That also hasn't happened in the past five years, said McDerby. 

It's fundamentally flawed as a model for civilian oversight.- Benson Cowan, head of Nunavut legal aid

The commission has conducted 23 public interest investigations over the past five years but none since 2017, McDerby said.

Those investigations are conducted by staff "with a combination of administrative investigations and policing background." 

The chair of the commission can initiate investigations under a different section of the act.

McDerby said that has occurred four times in the last five years —three times in 2016 and once in 2018. 

'Fundamentally flawed' 

The commission does not provide effective civilian oversight of the RCMP, said Benson Cowan, head of Nunavut's legal aid.

"All it is, is some sort of oversight over internal discipline ... It's fundamentally flawed as a model for civilian oversight," Cowan said. 

Cowan said he questions whether the commission has the mandate, political will or adequate funding to pursue its own investigations. 

"Their mandate makes it very clear, if there's any systematic review, it can't come at the expense of the other operations … so it's zero sum for them in terms of the envelope of funding," said Cowan. 

The commission did not respond to a request for comment in response to Engel's and Cowan's remarks. 

Cowan has asked the commission to conduct a systematic review of policing across Nunavut. 

He sent two letters over the past year highlighting more than 30 cases that include allegations from Inuit of police violence, racism and misconduct. 

The commission has not yet announced a decision.