RCMP

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police rates a poor grade due to a recent decision by a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the tazering death of Robert Dziekanski. (See Mounties obstructed efforts to save Dziekanski and below.)

The CHR Tribunal decision is at Mr. Tahmourpour v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The section of the decision on systemic racism is provided below.

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) of the United Kingdom has decided to visit Canada to explore with Canadian institutions issues of institutional racism and discrimination within the ranks of the RCMP against members of racialized communities. See the Press Release below. The visit falls within days of the beating of Mr. Phil Khan in Vancouver, B.C. Two police officers from local law enforcement agencies have been charged in the incident. While there were are allegations of racism, no hate crime charges were filed.

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Press Release

The Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society (CAERS) along with the Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) welcomes the visit of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) of the United Kingdom to Canada to explore the findings of the Canadian Rights Tribuanl (CHRT) regarding Mr. Tahmourpour v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The NBPA’s visit is intended to explore with Canadian institutions issues of institutional racism and discrimination within the ranks of the RCMP against members of racialized communities in light of the CHRT’s Tahmourpour decision (2008).

“Institutional racism is a concept that we worked very hard in the U.K. to combat. And we are very anxious to exchange best practices with the RCMP to address these issues”, said NBPA’s President, Dr. Ali Dizaei.

The CRRF states that the CHRT found that Mr. Tahmourpour established a prima facie case with regard to his complaint of racial discrimination against the RCMP and that “There is sufficient evidence to indicate that institutional racism is at play in the case of Mr. Tahmourpour and there is a need to eliminate all forms of racism and racial discrimination from our public institutions”

The CRRF plans a media conference January 27, 2009 in Toronto, ON.

CAERS hopes that the NBPA will be prepared to expand its mandate to explore allegations of racism within local police agencies. See, for example, recommendations for charges against police officers in Vancouver, B.C.

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In the case of Mr. Tahmourpour v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the CHR Tribunal rendered the following judgement to address systemic racism:

(ii) Prevention of discrimination in the Future - The Systemic Remedy

[245] Section 53(2)(a) of the Act provides the Tribunal with the authority to order that the Respondent take measures to redress the practice or to prevent the same from occurring in the future.

[246] I have found that Mr. Tahmourpour was a victim of systemic discrimination at Depot in 1999. Several of the RCMP witnesses testified that they thought that Depot was a much better training environment now that individuals like Corporal Boyer had retired. Corporal Bradley indicated that changes have been made to the training program since Mr. Tahmourpour's attendance there in 1999. Now, in addition to the opportunity that Mr. Tahmourpour had to raise concerns about his instructors to their supervisors twice during the program, the RCMP audits the courses regularly to ensure that the quality of instruction and evaluation is high.

[247] Mr. Tahmourpour testified that one of the individuals against whom he had a complaint was the very supervisor who was designated to hear the cadets' concerns twice during the program. Mr. Tahmourpour did not feel comfortable raising his concerns with this individual or anyone else at Depot, for fear of reprisal.

[248] Based on this evidence, and on a Report prepared by the RCMP in April 2006, entitled "Employment Systems Review" (ESR), I am not convinced that the above-noted changes are sufficient to prevent discrimination of the kind experienced by Mr. Tahmourpour from occurring in the future. The ESR is a study that was commissioned by the RCMP to determine whether the RCMP was in compliance with the Employment Equity Act. In the ESR Report, the authors state that although diversity training is part of the curriculum for the Cadet Training Program, the focus is on respecting diversity in police work. The Diversity Training does not specifically address diversity issues within Depot and within the RCMP. It does not deal with respecting diversity among RCMP employees.

[249] The authors of the Report found that a number of designated group employees in the RCMP feel they do not experience a high degree of acceptance/respect of their cultural differences from colleagues within the RCMP. The authors recommended the development of a standardized Diversity Training course targeted to address the internal diversity of the RCMP.

[250] The authors of the ESR reported that another area of concern is the prevalence of harassment that is experienced especially by women and to some extent, visible minorities. The response to complaints does not appear to be generally positive, and the consequences of lodging a complaint are so great that in some cases people do not lodge the complaint. There is mistrust of the internal system for investigating complaints.

[251] Sergeant Lise Lachance, the Acting Officer in charge of Employment Equity, testified about the RCMP's efforts with respect to employment equity. She stated that the harassment policy is being revised, and the RCMP was making efforts to combat discrimination within its ranks. However, Sergeant Lachance was not sure whether these efforts extended to the Training Academy at Depot.

[252] On the basis of this evidence, I conclude that the RCMP must take action to prevent the discrimination that occurred to Mr. Tahmourpour from occurring again. That action should address the issues set out below. However, I think it best to provide the parties with a period of 3 months from the date of this decision to reach an agreement on the exact nature of the measures that should be taken and a timetable for achieving them. I will retain jurisdiction over this portion of the decision in the event that the parties are unable to reach an agreement within 3 months. At that point, I will make a final determination on the appropriate measures to be taken by the RCMP.

[253] The measures to prevent future discrimination should include the following:

(i) A policy and set of procedures for dealing with harassment and discrimination at Depot that provide an immediate opportunity for cadets to raise their concerns, without fear of retaliation or negative consequences, to someone with the authority to make changes. A copy of the Policy and Procedures should be provided to each cadet, as part of the welcome kit, upon arrival at Depot.

(ii) A mandatory diversity/cultural sensitivity training program delivered to both cadets and all personnel at Depot that focuses on developing and promoting a culture of respect and tolerance for diversity within the RCMP. The issues raised in pages 59 - 64 of the Regular Members Survey, Report 3, September 1996, should be taken into account as well as any other relevant material. The suggestions for Diversity Training that are made in the Employment Systems Review by Lakshmi Ram and Associates (April 2006) should also be taken into account, specifically, the need for a training course targeted to address the internal diversity of the RCMP.

(iii) An Advisory Committee or a Multi-Culturalism officer at Depot who makes recommendations to the Commanding Officer at Depot with regard to the prevention of discrimination and the promotion of respect and tolerance for diversity at Depot. The Commanding Officer should respond in writing to these recommendations and provide reasons if recommendations are rejected.