For ten years the Liberal government has underfunded the RCMP and CSIS -- and still are. This has allowed the crooks to increase their influence across the country, virtually unopposed.
While the government kept the public in the dark about it, Officers like Sgt. Stenhouse became extremely frustrated that they were prevented from doing the job most of them had originally signed on for -- protecting Canadian citizens. The RCMP had been transformed into an organization where it appeared to be more important to just shuffle paper back and forth -- because of financial cutbacks -- while the crooks enjoyed expanding their business operations ($30 billion) relatively unimpeded.
We need more people like Stenhouse, not fewer. Hopefully, he will be allowed back -- perhaps with a promotion. No security force such as the RCMP should fire its best people for trying to do their job. It sets a bad example for others. If Stenhouse were corrupt, it's one thing, but he was not. He was a stellar officer with an unblemished record; plenty of other officers stepped forward in his defense.
Restoring to Sgt. Stenhouse his position as an RCMP officer would be a signal that the RCMP is finally going to do the right thing and start going after the major crooks -- as opposed to one of their own.
It might be the start of a process which would restore the reputation of the RCMP which has taken a beating over the years, in part, because of financial problems, in part, because of the perception that at some level, the RCMP has become politicized.
The public must have confidence in knowing that the RCMP consists of much more than the Musical Ride. Maintiens le Droit should be the force's primary goal again. Bringing Stenhouse back might be the first step in this restoration process.
Canada's top Mountie, RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, appeared to be "biased" in the case of former RCMP officer Bob Stenhouse, who leaked embarrassing internal documents to the author of a book on the Hells Angels, the Federal Court has ruled.
As a result, Zaccardelli's stamp of approval in June 2002 of an external review committee recommendation to fire the former staff sergeant for discreditable conduct must be set aside, the court ruled as a result of an appeal launched by Stenhouse.
The case has been referred back to the RCMP External Review Committee.
Ottawa Justice Michael Kelen also ordered that the commissioner must now delegate "the most senior officer not involved in the case" to make a decision on Stenhouse's fate for leaking the documents in the late '90s.
"The previous involvement of the commissioner in the applicant's disciplinary case cannot but give rise to a reasonable apprehension, which reasonably well-informed persons could properly have, of a biased appraisal and judgment by the commissioner," wrote Kelen in a March 12 decision.
Stenhouse . . . "It would appear the Federal Court is saying that the RCMP commissioner is accountable to his members," Stenhouse said Thursday.
"RCMP members are entitled to due process, fairness, and natural justice. This is a victory for all RCMP members and the public. It is a step in ensuring transparency and accountability when the RCMP deals with the disciplinary process of its members," he said.
[. . . .] The document in question was from Assistant Commissioner Rob Leatherdale. It suggested the RCMP did not properly consider or deal with Stenhouse's complaints and frustrations, particularly given his "stellar and unblemished career."
Other documents that were withheld pointed to the deep involvement of Zaccardelli, who at the time was deputy commissioner in charge of organized crime and operational policy.
Zaccardelli later excused himself from personal involvement in another disciplinary hearing involving an RCMP corporal.
Stenhouse eventually obtained all of these documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
In his appeal of the decision to terminate him, Stenhouse sought protection afforded to whistle-blowers.
Paul Martin, we still do not have whistle-blower legislation. Are your promises simply "sound and fury, signifying nothing"?
[. . . .] In 1998 and 1999 Stenhouse gave confidential RCMP documents to Toronto author Yves Lavigne, assuming they would be used for background information.
The documents were published in full in Lavigne's 1999 book, Hells Angels at War.
Stenhouse confessed to having leaked the documents as soon as he learned they were in the book, always maintaining he did so out of frustration because RCMP were "doing little in the way of investigating" and were simply monitoring the Hells Angels.
[. . . .] Several RCMP members testified the release of the documents resulted in no harm, only embarrassment to the RCMP.
The RCMP adjudication board called Stenhouse, who headed a successful operation that saw an infiltration of the former Rebel outlaw motorcycle club, an "outstanding and courageous officer without any blemish on his record until the incident in question."
Throughout his career, the 18-year veteran received a number of promotions and a commendation for bravery.
"I still have tremendous love and respect for the RCMP and the policing profession," said Stenhouse.
"We all make errors in judgment and it is important to me that the public be assured of the inherent integrity and goodness of the vast majority of RCMP members. One or two errors in judgment by the people in power should not be the measuring stick for the profession and the RCMP as a whole," he said.
