Vol. 148, No. 26 — December 17, 2014

Registration

SOR/2014-291 November 28, 2014

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE ACT

Commissioner’s Standing Orders (Conduct)

The Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, pursuant to paragraphs 21(2)(k) to (m) (see footnote a), sections 39.1 (see footnote b) and 39.2 (see footnote c) and subsections 46(4) (see footnote d) and 47.1(3) (see footnote e) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act (see footnote f), makes the annexed Commissioner’s Standing Orders (Conduct).

Ottawa, November 25, 2014

BOB PAULSON
Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

(This table is not part of the Standing Orders.)

COMMISSIONER’S STANDING ORDERS (CONDUCT)

INTERPRETATION

1. Definitions

CONDUCT AUTHORITIES

2. Designation as conduct authorities

CONDUCT MEASURES

3. Remedial conduct measures

4. Corrective conduct measures

5. Serious conduct measures

6. Ineligibility for promotion

7. Calculation of financial penalty

DECISION BY CONDUCT AUTHORITY

8. Written decision

REVIEW AUTHORITY

9. Designation of review authority

10. Service of notice

11. Decision

12. Information previously provided

CONDUCT BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE

13. Conduct hearing

14. Absence of subject member

15. Definition of “investigation report”

16. Pre-hearing conference

17. Motions

18. Witnesses to appear

19. Expert report

20. Reading of allegations

21. Adjournment

22. Recording of proceedings

23. Decision without further evidence

24. Decision on conduct measures

25. Decision

26. Record of conduct proceedings

27. Return of exhibits

WAIVER

28. Written waiver

REPRESENTATION

29. Definitions

30. Member representation

31. Conduct authority representation

APPEAL

32. Redress for certain written decisions

COMING INTO FORCE

33. Registration

COMMISSIONER’S STANDING ORDERS (CONDUCT)

INTERPRETATION

Definitions

1. The following definitions apply in these Standing Orders.

CONDUCT AUTHORITIES

Designation as conduct authorities

2. (1) The following persons, subject to any requirements that may be established by the Commissioner under subsection (2), are designated as conduct authorities in respect of the members who are under their command:

Requirements

(2) The Commissioner may establish the requirements that a person must meet before acting as a conduct authority.

Revocation

(3) The Commissioner may revoke the designation of a person as a conduct authority by written notice. The revocation takes effect as soon as the notice is served on the person.

Suspension of conduct process

(4) At the time of the revocation, any conduct process that is the responsibility of the conduct authority is suspended until another conduct authority takes responsibility for the conduct process.

Compliance with Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act

(5) If a person who is designated as a conduct authority is a senior officer, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, the person must administer the conduct process in a manner that complies with that Act.

CONDUCT MEASURES

Remedial conduct measures

3. (1) A conduct authority who is referred to in paragraph 2(1)(a) may impose one or more of the following remedial conduct measures against a subject member:

Conduct measure by agreement

(2) The conduct authority and the subject member may agree on the imposition of any other conduct measure, other than a financial penalty or a corrective or serious conduct measure.

Corrective conduct measures

4. A conduct authority referred to in paragraph 2(1)(b) may impose, in addition to the remedial conduct measures set out in section 3, one or more of the following corrective conduct measures against a subject member:

Serious conduct measures

5. (1) A conduct authority referred to in paragraph 2(1)(c) may impose, in addition to any remedial and corrective conduct measures, one or more of the following serious conduct measures against a subject member:

Effect of demotion

(2) In the case of the demotion referred to in paragraph (1)(e), the member’s rate of pay reverts, on the expiration of the period of demotion, to the rate of pay that the member received before the demotion, subject to any adjustments applicable to that rank or level.

Conduct boards and persons designated by Commissioner

(3) Conduct boards and persons who are designated as conduct authorities by the Commissioner under subsection 2(3) of the Act may impose any of the measures referred to in subsection 5(1) against a subject member.

Ineligibility for promotion

6. (1) If a conduct measure is imposed under any of paragraphs 4(b) and 5(1)(c) to (e), the subject member is ineligible for promotion for the period set by the conduct authority.

Demotion under paragraph 5(1)(f)

(2) A conduct authority who imposes a demotion under paragraph 5(1)(f) must specify the period, up to a maximum of three years, during which the subject member is ineligible for promotion.

Calculation of financial penalty

7. (1) For the purpose of sections 3 to 5, a financial penalty is to be calculated based on the subject member’s substantive rank or level on the day on which the penalty is imposed.

Collection

(2) The Commissioner may determine the manner in which a financial penalty is to be collected, if necessary, to avoid causing the member undue financial hardship.

DECISION BY CONDUCT AUTHORITY

Written decision

8. A conduct authority must cause to be served on the subject member a copy of their decision setting out any findings in respect of the alleged contravention of the Code of Conduct, any conduct measure imposed in respect of that contravention and the reasons for the decision. The decision takes effect as soon as it is served.

REVIEW AUTHORITY

Designation of review authority

9. (1) The Commissioner may designate a person to be a review authority in respect of decisions made by conduct authorities and as the conduct authority in respect of the subject member for any decision that the review authority decides to review.

Reason for review

(2) A review authority may, on their own initiative, review a decision to determine if a finding is clearly unreasonable or a conduct measure is clearly disproportionate to the nature and circumstances of the contravention.

Power of review authority

(3) If the review authority makes the determination that a finding is clearly unreasonable or a conduct measure is clearly disproportionate and if it is in the public interest to do so, the review authority may

Service of notice

10. (1) If a review authority intends to substitute another finding for one that was made by the conduct authority, amend any imposed conduct measure or substitute another measure for one that was imposed by the conduct authority, the review authority must cause to be served on the subject member a notice informing the member of this intention.

Submissions

(2) The member may, within 14 days after the day on which they are served with the notice, provide the review authority with written submissions.

Decision

11. (1) The review authority must render a decision in writing as soon as feasible after considering the subject member’s submissions, and cause a copy of it to be served on the member.

Reasons

(2) If the review authority renders a decision under paragraph 9(3)(a) or (b), the reasons for the decision must be included.

Taking effect

(3) The decision takes effect as soon as it is served.

Information previously provided

12. If a review authority initiates a hearing, any decisions rendered by the conduct authority and information received by the conduct authority or review authority from or on behalf of the subject member during the conduct process and not forming a part of the investigation, including any admission, must not be provided to the conduct board and the board must not consider the information, unless the member requests that it be considered.

CONDUCT BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE

Conduct hearing

13. (1) Proceedings before a conduct board must be dealt with by the board as informally and expeditiously as the principles of procedural fairness permit.

Adaptation of rules

(2) The conduct board may adapt these rules of procedure if the principles of procedural fairness permit.

Non-compliance with rules

(3) The conduct board may remedy any failure to comply with these rules of procedure, including by setting aside a proceeding either wholly or in part, in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness.

Matters not provided for

(4) If any matter arises in the proceedings that is not otherwise provided for in the Act, the Regulations or these Standing Orders, the conduct board may give any direction that it considers appropriate.

Absence of subject member

14. The circumstances referred to in subsection 45.1(8) of the Act are that the conduct board is satisfied that the subject member has received reasonable notice of the date, time and place of the hearing and has failed to attend without reasonable cause.

Definition of “investigation report”

15. (1) In this section, “investigation report” means a report resulting from the investigation referred to in subsection 40(1) of the Act and includes supporting material.

Documents to be provided and served

(2) As soon as feasible after the members of the conduct board have been appointed, the conduct authority must provide a copy of the notice referred to in subsection 43(2) of the Act and the investigation report to the conduct board and must cause a copy of the investigation report to be served on the subject member.

Documents to be provided by member

(3) Within 30 days after the day on which the subject member is served with the notice or within another period as directed by the conduct board, the subject member must provide to the conduct authority and the conduct board

Further investigation

(4) A subject member may request that the conduct board cause a further investigation to be made.

Further information or documents

(5) A conduct board may order a person to provide any further information or documents that the board requires to perform its role under subsection 45(1) of the Act.

Protected information

(6) Parties are not required to provide any information or documents that are protected by privilege or any communication that is protected by subsection 47.1(2) of the Act or subsection 56(3) of the Regulations.

Pre-hearing conference

16. (1) A conduct board may direct the parties to participate in a pre-hearing conference, to be held in any manner directed by the board.

Results in writing

(2) A conduct board that holds a pre-hearing conference must record in writing any directions, decisions, agreements or undertakings that arise from the pre-hearing conference and must provide a copy of that record to each of the parties.

Motions

17. (1) A party may bring a motion before the conduct board at any time.

Date for hearing motion

(2) The board may fix a date for hearing the motion or, if the principles of procedural fairness permit, hear it immediately.

Notice of motion

(3) If the board fixes a date, the moving party must, at least 14 days before that date, provide the board and serve the responding party with a notice of motion that sets out the grounds for the motion and the relief sought, together with any evidence to be relied on.

Response to motion

(4) The responding party must, at least seven days before the date fixed for the hearing, provide the board and serve the moving party with any evidence to be relied on, together with written submissions.

Witnesses to appear

18. (1) Within 30 days after the day on which the notice of hearing is served, the parties must submit to the conduct board a list of the witnesses that they want to have summoned before the board and a list of the issues in respect of which they may want to rely on expert testimony.

Information on witnesses

(2) The list of witnesses must include

List of witnesses

(3) The board must establish a list of the witnesses that it intends to summon, including any expert in respect of whom a party has indicated an intention under subsection 19(3) to question, and may seek further submissions from the parties.

Providing reasons

(4) The board must provide the parties with the list of witnesses that it will hear and its reasons for accepting or refusing any witness on the list submitted by the parties.

Expert report

19. (1) Any party who intends to use an expert report must, at least 30 days before the hearing, submit it to the conduct board and serve it on the other party.

Contents of expert report

(2) The expert report must contain the following:

Responding expert report

(3) A party who is served with an expert report must, within 14 days after the day on which it is served, notify the board and the other party of their intention, if any, to question the expert or to obtain a responding expert report. The board must fix a deadline for the submission of a responding expert report.

Reading of allegations

20. (1) At the commencement of a hearing, the conduct board must read to the subject member each allegation of contravention of the Code of Conduct that is set out in the notice of the hearing, and the member must admit or deny each allegation.

Deemed denial

(2) If a member does not admit or deny an allegation, the member is deemed to have denied the allegation.

Change of position

(3) The board may permit a member to change their position in respect of an allegation at any time before the final decision in respect of the allegation is rendered.

Adjournment

21. The conduct board may, if necessary, adjourn the hearing for up to 30 days or, in exceptional circumstances, for a longer period.

Recording of proceedings

22. A hearing before a conduct board must be recorded and, at the request of a party who is appealing a decision of the board, a transcript of the recording must be prepared and given to them.

Decision without further evidence

23. (1) If no testimony is heard in respect of an allegation, the conduct board may render a decision in respect of the allegation based solely on the record.

Member guilty of offence

(2) The conduct board may rely on a finding by a court in Canada that a member is guilty of an offence under an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province to decide that the member has contravened the Code of Conduct.

Decision on conduct measures

24. (1) In determining the appropriate conduct measures to impose, the conduct board may examine any material submitted by the parties and hear their oral submissions and any witness, including those referred to in subsection 18(1).

Proportionality

(2) The conduct board must impose conduct measures that are proportionate to the nature and circumstances of the contravention of the Code of Conduct.

Decision

25. (1) The conduct board must render a decision as soon as feasible after the hearing.

Taking effect of decision

(2) An oral decision that is rendered in the presence of the subject member takes effect immediately. A written decision takes effect as soon as a copy of it is served on the member.

Service of decision

(3) The conduct board must cause a copy of the decision to be served on the subject member and the conduct authority.

Record of conduct proceedings

26. The conduct board must compile a record after the hearing, including

Return of exhibits

27. (1) Unless the conduct board decides otherwise, it must cause to be returned to a party anything the party tendered as an exhibit, after the end of the period in which an appeal may be presented, or, if an appeal has been presented, after the disposition of the appeal.

Destruction or disposal of exhibits

(2) At the request of a party or if a party refuses to accept a returned exhibit, the conduct board must cause the exhibit to be destroyed or disposed of.

WAIVER

Written waiver

28. Any waiver by a subject member of a right under these Standing Orders must be made in writing.

REPRESENTATION

Definitions

29. The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 30 and 31.

Member representation

30. (1) A Member Representative may provide representation to a subject member if the member

Member assistance

(2) A Member Representative may provide assistance to a subject member if the member

Exceptions

(3) If the Director of the Member Representative Directorate decides that one of the following circumstances applies, a Member Representative must not represent or assist a subject member:

Discontinuation

(4) The Director may discontinue providing representation or assistance if the subject member

Service of decision

(5) If, under subsection (3), a subject member cannot be represented or assisted or if, under subsection (4), the Director discontinues the provision of representation or assistance, the Director must cause a notice to this effect to be served on the subject member.

Excluded costs

(6) If a subject member is not represented or assisted by a Member Representative, the subject member is responsible for all of the subject member’s costs in responding to an allegation of a contravention of the Code of Conduct.

Conduct authority representation

31. (1) A Conduct Authority Representative may represent a conduct authority in the following circumstances:

Conduct authority assistance

(2) A Conduct Authority Representative may provide assistance

Exceptions

(3) If the Director of the Conduct Authority Representative Directorate decides that one of the following circumstances applies, a Conduct Representative must not represent or assist a conduct authority:

Limitation

(4) Only persons who are Conduct Authority Representatives are authorized to provide representation and assistance under subsections (1) and (2) to conduct authorities.

APPEAL

Redress for certain written decisions

32. (1) A member who is aggrieved by one of the following written decisions may seek redress by means of an appeal of the decision in accordance with the Commissioner’s Standing Orders (Grievances and Appeals):

Redress for other decisions, acts or omissions

(2) A member who is aggrieved by any decision, act or omission that leads to one of the written decisions set out in paragraphs (1)(a) to (d) may seek redress by means of an appeal of the decision in accordance with the Commissioner’s Standing Orders (Grievances and Appeals).

Effect of appeal

(3) An appeal made under this section does not stay the execution of the written decision being appealed or of any related process.

COMING INTO FORCE

Registration

33. These Standing Orders come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Commissioner’s Standing Orders.)

Issues

The Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act (the Accountability Act), which received Royal Assent on June 19, 2013, introduces significant changes to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act (the Act) to support the efforts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to support law enforcement operations through increased accountability in respect of the manner in which the force is administered. The changes to the Act created a requirement to review the RCMP’s Commissioner’s Standing Orders (CSOs) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regulations, 1988 (the 1988 Regulations) to ensure that they align with the authorities, requirements, functions and powers provided by the Accountability Act. As a result of this review, the 1988 Regulations will be repealed and replaced with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regulations, 2014 (the 2014 Regulations) and 20 existing CSOs (see footnote 1) will be repealed and consolidated into five new CSOs:

The purpose of this Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) is to provide information in respect of the CSOs (Conduct). The other four CSOs are each addressed in a separate RIAS. The five CSOs, subsections 87(1), (3) and (4) of the Accountability Act, and the 2014 Regulations must all come into force at the same time in order to ensure the smooth and efficient implementation of the totality of the new systems created by the new statutory regime.

Background

In 2007, the government-appointed Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP (see footnote 2) provided recommendations relating to organizational structure, oversight, accountability, leadership, workload, employee wellness, and management. Also in 2007, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness commenced a strategy to enhance the RCMP public complaints process in response to the report on the events relating to Maher Arar. (see footnote 3) In addition, beginning in late 2011, serving and retired members of the Force began to raise concerns in respect of harassment in the RCMP and challenged the Force’s commitment to providing employees with a safe, healthy, respectful and harassment-free workplace. The cumulative effect of these events resulted in the Government’s direction to assess the feasibility of proceeding with amendments to the legislative suite governing the RCMP in an effort to begin to transform the manner in which it managed RCMP members, and to enhance the organization’s level of responsibility and accountability, both internally and externally. Government support for transformation resulted in the tabling of the Accountability Act on June 20, 2012, which was consequently subject to extensive examination during the parliamentary process.

The Accountability Act is based on two former bills that were introduced during the third session of the 40th Parliament in June 2010. It contains the legislative amendments found in former Bill C-38 — Ensuring the Effective Review of RCMP Civilian Complaints Act (with minor technical amendments) and certain human resources management components of former Bill C-43 — RCMP Modernization Act. Both these bills died on the Order Paper when an election was called in March 2011.

Although the Accountability Act received Royal Assent in June 2013, implementation is still subject to the coming into force of those parts that provide the authorities for the amended human resource management and administrative processes. As a consequence, the next step is to align the statutory instruments that are provided for by the Act, specifically the Regulations and the CSOs, with the new authorities, requirements, functions and powers provided for in the Accountability Act. All of the statutory components are in turn supported by policies, process maps, guidebooks, and training materials.

Objectives

Subsection 2(2) of the Act defines CSOs as “the rules made by the Commissioner under any provision of this Act empowering the Commissioner to make rules.” Simply put, the CSOs are statutory instruments created under the Commissioner’s authority which establish the essential components that are necessary for the implementation of various procedures. This RIAS describes the CSOs required to support the conduct management framework that has been designed to address misconduct in a timely, fair and effective manner. It is through the CSOs that the conduct authorities responsible for the effective management of conduct cases will receive the authority to exercise their decision-making function and impose conduct measures that they deem appropriate in any given case. The CSOs will also establish the new practice and procedure rules for conduct boards to enable the timelier, fairer and more effective management of dismissal cases.

Description

In accordance with the Accountability Act, the CSOs (Conduct) establish the essential features of the new conduct process which, along with the conduct policy, will enable the implementation of a process focused on a remedial and educative approach to conduct management.

These CSOs will support the following major changes to the conduct management processes within the RCMP:

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there are no changes in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs to small business.

Consultation

The RCMP has conducted consultations in various forms with internal and external stakeholders affected by the proposed legislative amendments. In regard to the development of the new human resource management and administrative processes created by the amendments to the Act, beginning in June 2011, the RCMP created internal working groups, consisting of applicable subject matter experts, member and employee representatives, and divisional service providers and managers, to collaboratively identify options for the establishment of the form and structures for the new processes, procedures, policies, and training. These working groups played a key role in determining the contents of each of the CSOs, as even following the cessation of the working groups in late 2013, draft products, such as the proposed provisions for the 2014 Regulations, the Code of Conduct, policies, guidebooks and the CSOs were shared with the Staff Relations Representative Program, the official labour relations program of the RCMP, public service employee bargaining agents, and internal and external subject matter experts, for review and feedback.

To offer further opportunities for all employees to provide input, the RCMP created an internal Web site in June 2011, in order to provide information and updates on the implementation of the Accountability Act and how it could impact the Force and its employees. The site also provided email access to the RCMP team tasked with coordinating the response to the Accountability Act, and several thousand RCMP personnel have submitted their thoughts, considerations, concerns and suggestions throughout the course of building the necessary infrastructure for the implementation of the Act.

Rationale

The legislative framework calls for a department to update any related regulations when its enabling Act is revised. As a result of the sweeping changes that have been made to the Act and Regulations, the current CSOs that were created to support the existing discipline regime have to be repealed and replaced by the CSOs (Conduct) which include the terms, procedures and processes that are necessary to align the administrative infrastructure with the amendments to the Act provided by the Accountability Act. The new CSOs will have the same coming-into-force date as subsection 87(1), (3) and (4) of the Accountability Act. Although there are no net additional costs, the supporting CSOs and the 2014 Regulations are essential and crucial elements of modernizing operations and streamlining practices to achieve enhanced levels of internal and external accountability for the manner in which the RCMP administers its internal procedures.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The 2014 Regulations and the revised CSOs will provide the additional authorities and procedural details that are necessary to complete the implementation and functionality of the processes and systems established by the Accountability Act. On the same day as their coming into force, a series of supporting policies will be available to provide further information that is more administrative in nature and that does not require the level of legislative authority that is provided for under a statutory instrument. The following business documents will be available to support the CSOs (Conduct): Conduct Policy; National Guidebook — Conduct; Annotated Code of Conduct; Conduct Process Guide; and the Conduct Process Map.

Service standards in respect of the application of the new procedures will be in place following the coming into force of the Act and will be refined in the coming years based on lessons learned and best practices. The RCMP will conduct a review of the adequacy of resources and the evaluation of the modernized human resource management and administrative processes three to five years after the date of implementation for consideration by RCMP senior executives and Government.

Contact

Chief Superintendent Michael O’Rielly
Director General
Workplace Responsibility Branch
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R2
Telephone: 613-843-6109
Email: Michael.ORielly@rcmp-grc.gc.ca