Public Safety committee  I really don't know, because I don't know what impact that would have on their salaries or on their functions. If they're transferred, there must be more change than just—

Public Safety committee  I was told that they can now, but I'm really not....

Public Safety committee  I have seen that, but it's in the form of a program, of an objective, and I think it's a very good thing because it means that they recognize that there is a problem and that there are certain ways to deal with these problems. The difficulty they have, I think, is with this lack of trust.

Public Safety committee  [Inaudible—Editor] a leadership problem—

Public Safety committee  I've spoken to the commissioner, and it was the first time that I had spoken to her. I don't know her at all. I don't know of her either. But I was impressed by the fact that she recognized the problem. She recognized that there had been a lack of leadership, and she told me of her willingness to address all of these issues and of how she was trying to set up a stronger support for herself in the central administration and even in the supervision of the different districts—the big districts, like the provinces.

Public Safety committee  The people who accept the new candidates have to be people who accept that the force has to change. Otherwise, they're going to bring in people who are like them, people who are satisfied with the way we're training or bringing in people. If we want to develop a career plan for everyone, it means also that there has to be much more attention to the way we provide training and promotions.

Public Safety committee  If they can do it in England, Sweden and the United States, why not do it here? I don't think that's a real answer. I think we deprive ourselves of people who can help us if our employment standards are too low. If these people come in and can't satisfactorily complete development programs, we're harming more than helping the police.

Public Safety committee  There's definitely a discrepancy between the RCMP's policies and values and what actually goes on. That means there's a problem in management and supervision. Those are two things the commissioner must focus on.

Public Safety committee  I don't know if it can be better, but of course they will have a stronger grip on the policing that is being done there. I think the danger for the RCMP is that if Surrey goes through with its project, there might be two or three or four or more municipalities that do the same thing or a province that decides to establish a provincial police, and that, of course, would create a real crisis within the RCMP.

Public Safety committee  First of all, I think there's been a change there. The candidates are now on average older and more educated. I would put the bar quite high, because I think that policing has changed and that you need people capable of learning new techniques and learning to work with the Internet and everything that is based on science.

Public Safety committee  I think what has to happen is that the commissioner has to establish a real plan for the reform and take some drastic actions right away—I mean, to change some of the structures or some of the leadership. She knows, I think, who are the strong and who are the not-so-strong leaders at every level.

Public Safety committee  You know, it's quite surprising, but I think that in spite of everything that's happened and everything that's been in the news and even with the publication of this report, most Canadians still see the RCMP as a very important part of our democracy, and they believe it can still be the best police in the world.

Public Safety committee  What I say is that it's very difficult, because there are still in the administration a lot of people who are for the status quo and who don't believe much in the new approach. They're going to be a stumbling block. But there are some who want reform, and of course the women want reform.

Public Safety committee  I think there is the possibility of establishing a grievance process that works. The problem is, you have to have confidence in the process and confidence in the fact that there will be punishment of those who are responsible and that there will not be any retaliation. Those elements are within the RCMP—they can't be outside the RCMP—to establish that confidence and to make sure that there is no retribution afterwards.

Public Safety committee  In my case, I can't release any of the names, because that was one of the conditions under which they established the process. The reason is that they said if I were to give the names, then most of the women wouldn't participate. They'd be afraid of reprisal. It had to be a very open process for them to come in and do it.