Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
And thank you to the witnesses for appearing here today.
I have some degree of knowledge on policing issues, having spent 30 years with one of the country's major police forces. Whenever we make comments, we need to take a look at a person who will be leading one of the most trusted and respected police forces on the face of God's good earth. One of the first things I look at is what the vision is for the RCMP.
I notice in the first part of the vision statement of the RCMP that it is an organization that is committed to “be a progressive, proactive and innovative organization”. When I look at those words, I can think of many, many different facets, but one of the things that comes to mind in this ever-changing world, especially when you begin to get up in age a little bit, is the pace of change that society goes through.
Having begun my first career in the seventies, the changes seem to be speeding up, especially for those who had 25 years more experience than I, but then near the end of my career the change was, one would say, almost exponential.
You used to be told there are two sure things in life, death and taxes, but there's actually a third, and that's what we really try to deal with all over our society, and that is change.
I notice in the criteria, under “Abilities”—and it has to do with the vision for the RCMP—is the “Ability to anticipate emerging issues”, and of course “manage risk”. We all do that in various ways.
But with regard to “lead organizational change”, I wonder what, Ms. Hassard or Mr. Flack, you can add. What do you see, what do you look for, what will be looked for in the individuals and their background and what they say to you in answer to questions that leads you to believe they are very adaptable to change and able to perform within the vision statement and able to produce an organization that is able to adapt to change?