Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, committee members. Thank you for having us here today.
I would like to introduce Ms. Denise Revine, who is a former director with the human resource sector and has over 36 years of service with the RCMP. Ms. Revine is a public servant who uncovered the pension and insurance fund wrongdoings. Ms. Revine has been the main information gatherer, authoring a number of reports and letters, in our quest for action on this file. She will be able to respond to questions surrounding some of the issues and the timeline of events.
I presently work in community contract and aboriginal policing in Ottawa, and I have 27 years of service. At the time these wrongdoings were reported, I was a director general within human resources.
Before I get to the heart of my opening statement, I would like to set the stage as to why we are here today. For the past several years, the RCMP has had a small group of managers who, through their actions and inactions, are responsible for serious breaches in our core values, the RCMP code of conduct, and even the Criminal Code. I say “a small group of managers” because I believe it is very important to emphasize that we are not talking about the core business of the RCMP or the approximately 24,000 employees who carry out policing or administrative functions across this country on a day-to-day basis.
In fact, the employees of the RCMP were the victims in this matter. They had blind faith in those entrusted with the care of their pension and insurance funds. For the most part, they still do not know how some $30 million or more was spent over three years on pension and insurance outsourcing.
l would like to clearly state that we are here today, almost four years after reporting these matters to Commissioner Zaccardelli, because we believe he abdicated his responsibility by not immediately addressing the fraud and abuse reported to him and that there were inappropriate actions taken to suppress the facts and mislead employees. For the record, we are here because it is, and it always has been, the right thing to do. It is not, as Mr. Fitzpatrick stated at this committee on February 14, “maybe, unhappy ex-employees trying to get their things in”.
With that said, let me get right to the point. While we do not dispute the Auditor General's findings, it is important for the public accounts committee to note that these findings are based on the examination of one year only. The issues raised before you today cover six years. They were brought to the attention of the OAG auditors in October 2005. It is our understanding that because the allegations fell outside the scope of the AG audit, these could not be examined.
By the time the full disclosures were uncovered and reported by Ms. Revine in early June 2003, the RCMP had already spent over $25 million, committed an additional $10 million in contracts for 2003-04, and was forecasting another $20 million in expenditures before the end of 2005-06. In other words, the reported historical and projected cost breakdown was escalating to just under $55 million. This was a far, far cry from the original $3.6 million of cost projections in the business plan submitted on July 17, 2000. This abuse had to be stopped.
The evidence presented to Commissioner Zaccardelli, which he in turn submitted to his director general of audit and evaluation, Mr. Brian Aiken, on June 17, 2003, was credible, undeniable, and convincing. The commissioner was made aware of the misappropriations of funds, the threats, the excessive spending, the serious staffing and contracting violations, and the gross abuses of power and authority.
Ten days later, on July 4, 2003, l signed separate formal memos to the attention of both Commissioner Zaccardelli and Mr. Aiken, bringing forward a more detailed and comprehensive picture of the corruption. There was ample proof that fraud and abuse were present. Given the overwhelming excesses, any reasonable person would have suspected criminal activity.
It was shortly after that that Deputy Commissioner Barb George informed me that l would be removed from my position. Assistant Commissioner Vern White, now retired, filed a formal complaint against me for having raised suspicions of misconduct around Mr. Dominic Crupi. My punitive assignment was a two-year secondment to the Department of National Defence. Let me add that this in no way reflects upon the Department of National Defence, but for me, being removed from my position was a punishment and a clear message to others.
On September 23, 2003, at the prospect of experiencing further tactical delays from the auditors and more cover-up and retaliation, Ms. Revine formally wrote to the RCMP ethics advisor, Mr. John Spice, requesting his intervention with the commissioner. She outlined all the issues in a lengthy e-mail. On October 16, 2003, l personally met, for a second time, with Commissioner Zaccardelli, to no avail. We will be tabling all of these relevant documents.
It took many interventions and almost a year to bring this to a criminal investigation. Shortly after the criminal investigation was announced, Ms. Revine's work was reassigned and she was served a letter by Rosalie Burton instructing her to report to the Public Service Commission for a priority placement elsewhere in government.
It is important for committee members to note that Ms. Burton was a patronage appointee who was brought into the RCMP and promoted into the EX ranks by Deputy Commissioner George as a favour to Mr. Jim Ewanovich, the former CHRO. It should also be noted that both Ms. Burton and Deputy Commissioner George were persons of interest in the Great West Life insurance investigation.
On February 21, Chief Bevan made a comment that I found very interesting: "What persuaded the Crown—”