Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to follow up on the theme that seems to be emerging here. I'm a firm believer that if there's a failure in an organization, it's a failure of the system.
Dr. Deming, who in the world of private management is probably viewed as the equivalent to Einstein in science, was a firm believer that if you're getting bad results out of an organization, it's defects in the system, and you've got to change the system if you want to get better results. It was his view that good people stuck in a bad system, no matter what they do, are helpless to get the system changed and get the results done. In this episode I think we see many examples of bad results and failures of the system.
When I look at Mr. Brown's report--and I've read the report three times--I think he's going at it the right way. He looks at the issues in the system, and he's looking at systemic changes so that these problems will not occur in the future. It's not based on just changing people in the system; it's changes.... I'm referring to chapter 8, “Rebuilding the Trust”, and a task force dedicated to dealing with these systemic problems. One of his main points for the task force is “ensuring that the RCMP's workplace disclosure policy is appropriate and that mechanisms are in place with adequate resources to ensure protection from reprisal and a commitment to clear and decisive corrective measures”.
It seems to me that we're on the path to making good systemic changes to the RCMP. I think everybody on this committee understands that it's the system that has to be dealt with. Knowing Dr. Deming as I do, I think you're not going to get good systemic changes without really good, strong leadership at the top who are dedicated to bringing those changes on.
I would like to ask Assistant Commissioner Conlin whether she believes Commissioner Elliott is up to the job.