RCMP commissioner stepping down in summer
Elliott will continue to serve as commissioner pending his next assignment, which has yet to be announced, the PMO said.
He has been commissioner since July 2007.
News of Elliott's departure took at least some in the Mounties by surprise. The RCMP's communications office was unaware of the news when contacted on Friday, the CBC's Alison Crawford reported.
Elliot has faced some controversy during his time in the job, with his management style criticized by senior officers and suggestions that he needed anger-management training. Elliott reorganized his office following the criticism, including demoting then-deputy commissioner Raf Souccar, who was among the commissioner's critics
In a statement to RCMP, Elliott called it an "honour" to lead the police force, adding that it was time for him to move on to something new.
"As you are aware, there have been an unprecedented number of changes to our senior management team over the last few months," he said
"I am confident that the new team is very strong and well positioned to lead the force in continuing to provide high quality services to Canadians and advancing our ongoing efforts to bring about positive change in the RCMP," he said.
First civilian leader
Elliott was the first civilian appointed to the position, following an extensive legal and civil service career. His previous positions included national security adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and associate deputy minister of public safety.
Liberal MP Mark Holland said Elliott's pending departure is an opportunity to bring about the change the RCMP needs.
"There's about five years of recommendations that are now sitting stale that need to be implemented. This shouldn't just be about changing the commissioner, it needs to be about changing the organization and the government needs to act," he said.
Holland, the party's public safety critic, said if the government doesn't act to "modernize" the RCMP, public confidence in the agency will suffer.
Holland said he welcomed the opportunity to consult on the hiring of the next commissioner.
"Ideally, I'd like somebody who has experience inside the RCMP, somebody who has led organizations and demonstrated that they have the ability to implement change, and, frankly, who is independent, somebody who all parties can respect as not being an agent of the PM, but an agent of change, somebody who is going to come in and earnestly work to make the RCMP what it needs to be," he said.
Holland also touched on the controversies during Elliott's tenure.
"I think the real problem, though, was a commissioner who was under very tight control from the prime minister's office, and my concern here is that we are going to see a change in commissioner, but we're not going to see a change in the RCMP.
"It's really impacting morale within the rank and file, and they desperately deserve an organization that reflects the type of job they do everyday and right now that's not happening."
Asked if the government made a mistake in appointing a civilian in Elliott, Holland said, "The problem wasn't so much with Mr. Elliott but rather with a government that was intransigent, that was refusing to implement changes and insisted on a commissioner that would only do their bidding."
Departure not surprising
Brian Roach, who is on the national executive of the group that represents the RCMP rank and file, said he is not surprised by Elliott's departure.
"You know, each commissioner has a length of term, it's never been in stone but it's usually one to five years," he said.
"Clearly, we look forward to working with the next commissioner, we had a good relationship with this one," Roach said from Winnipeg. "Clearly, we believe the next one should be a regular member. I think commissioner Elliot has been on the record with the media that that should be the case as well."
Roach said the candidates' backgrounds would be important in selecting a new commissioner.
"Two-thirds of our job is in contract-policing [to provinces, territories and municipalities], so that type of background would be important. There's decisions in that office that would be advantageous to the commissioner if that background was there. We're more than federal and international," Roach said.
"I think the membership want to get back to when we had a regular member [of the force] in there," he said.
Last Canadian icon
Paul Kennedy, a former chairman of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission, had a few suggestions about what the government should look for in a new commissioner.
"There's only one icon left in this country, that's the RCMP," he said. "Probably one of the most important public positions in this country is the commissioner of the RCMP.
"There's no room for gamesmanship. Everyone owes it to the Canadian public to make sure they pick the right candidate. The force will reward them by performing better, the Canadian public will reward them by supporting the force everyone will come out of this."
Kennedy said there can be "no shortcuts."
"Pick the best candidate. male, female, civilian, within the RCMP, outside the RCMP, it doesn't matter. Pick the best because we owe it to the RCMP and we owe it to Canadians."