I am satisfied with that, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much.
I will now make my opening statement. To begin, I would like to thank committee members for inviting me to testify today, in particular with regard to requests I made under the Access to Information Act.
I have been with the RCMP for 31 years. My rank is that of staff sergeant. For the last 16 years, I was the Division C Staff Relations representative, and I represented regular and civilian members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Quebec, including at the Cornwall detachment in Ontario. I held the same position as Staff Sergeant Ron Lewis before he retired.
Divisional representatives are elected for two or three-year mandates, and since 1990, I was re-elected to this position by either a huge majority or unanimously. The last time the position was opened, I was prevented from putting my name forward because I had sent letters to the Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Stockwell Day. I tabled with the clerk, in both official languages, the letters I sent to the Minister of Public Safety, the letters of reprisals I received afterwards, as well as the letter ordering me not to put my name forward for the position which I had held for 16 years.
I have also included copies of untranslated letters. I would appreciate it if the clerk could get these letters translated so all committee members can read them.
The irony in all of this is that my problems started, amongst other reasons, when I made an access to information request for the Ottawa police report about the criminal investigation which allegedly had been carried out by the Ottawa police into the actions of certain senior RCMP managers, some of whom have apparently already testified before your committee. I filed other access to information requests on the hiring, by the RCMP, of retired RCMP members as temporary civilian employees immediately after or shortly after they had left the Force.
There is no doubt in my mind that the fact that I made access to information requests and sent letters to the Minister of Public Safety to discuss the problems this committee is examining led to reprisals against me by RCMP members. I was transferred elsewhere as a punishment, and I was not allowed to run for an eighth consecutive term to represent Division C members who, incidentally, have no way of contesting the actions taken against me. Unfortunately for RCMP members, the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada not to hear the appeal of Mr. Robert Reed gives even more powers to senior managers and makes rank and file RCMP members even more vulnerable to reprisals when they denounce alleged wrongdoing by senior managers.
Before closing my opening statement, I would also like to share with the honourable committee members that actions taken against me also coincide with the outcome of a complaint I had lodged with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages concerning the fact that no simultaneous translation was requested by the head of the labour relations system in the RCMP, known as the DIVREP system, during an official meeting involving all representatives across Canada, the ex-commissioner of the RCMP, Mr. Giuliano Zaccardelli, and Madame Barbara George.
I could provide the supporting documentation, complaint, and result to the committee relating to the above subject upon request. I understand that my divisional representative, Staff Sergeant Gaétan Delisle, met with Mrs. Barbara George to intervene in my favour, without results. Furthermore, the present commissioner, who could have rectified this unjust treatment, refused, up to now, to meet with him or me.
Once again, I would like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to assist it in its deliberations. I would now be happy to answer any questions you may have.