RCMP watchdog spends final weeks in public feud with force's commissioner

December 12, 2009
Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The head of the RCMP is bidding the force's complaints commissioner farewell by accusing him of creating an "inaccurate" picture of the Mounties.

RCMP Commissioner William Elliott reacted to two damning reports in the past week from the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP by releasing letters objecting to the timing of their release. Elliott also takes issue with the suggestion the force wants to control when reports from its independent watchdog are made public.

Complaints commission chair Paul Kennedy, who leaves the job at the end of the month, used last week's reports to chastise the RCMP for being slow to accept his recommendations.

Kennedy said the RCMP often takes months - in some cases a year or two - to respond to his reports, and the force can't expect him to simply wait.

He also said that if the complaints commission required the RCMP's approval to release critical reports, it would undercut the commission's ability to properly monitor the force.