Public Safety committee  The view of the association would be that you keep government out of it. If you're going to hire a leader, you create a board made up of, say, police chiefs from across Canada. You shortlist a bunch of candidates and come up with the best candidate, and you keep Parliament out of

Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Well, he's correct. It does work that way in other.... I'm concerned, and our membership is concerned, about politics interfering with our organization at the highest levels.

Public Safety committee  I think there would be more engagement from our members, yes.

Public Safety committee  First and foremost, most of the high media profile issues that we're focusing on as matters that have obviously caused concern to the public and for us deal with the front line. I have to tell you, sir, that probably a couple of the worst days that I experienced in my service o

Public Safety committee  Well, the cultural difference I was referring to, sir, was the management executive versus the front-line operations.

Public Safety committee  To be honest, they've never been held to account, not to the same level. There is a saying within the organization that the further you move up in the rank structure, the less accountable you are for your actions. I firmly hold to that belief.

Public Safety committee  Does he?

Public Safety committee  I think, sir, you are correct, but only in terms of the timeline. I think a speedy timeline is beneficial. Having been under the weight of one of those complaints that dragged on and on for years, I can tell you it does drag on you. I think the bill has improvements in that resol

Public Safety committee  I would agree with that. I would think the chair should be immune.

Public Safety committee  I think it's important that it does happen quickly, but one of the disturbing issues for me is that up until this point, the official representatives of labour relations in the RCMP knew nothing. I can tell you that the members out there who are educating themselves about the RCM

Public Safety committee  Simply to clarify, sir, they may well be aware of the bill, but that certainly has not been communicated to the 24,000 employees. They may well be aware of what's taking place, but communication about this bill has not been transmitted to the front-line membership.

Public Safety committee  Yes, sir.

Public Safety committee  I believe it's under section 7. Chief Superintendent MacMillan noted in his thesis, when referring to ordered statements, that even in code of conduct matters that don't involve the Criminal Code per se, these statements can be used in subsequent civil and other processes. That

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. I think you have to look at the RCMP front line as also being stakeholders in this process. I think it's alarming that you have 24,000 people who are going to be clearly affected by this legislation, but there was no consultation prior to getting to this point. You