A professional association representing front-line RCMP officers has announced it will be involved in an appeal process with a federal labour tribunal.
The Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada will act as a respondent as RCMP management appeals corrective direction issued by Labour Canada in relation to the January 2015 shooting incident in St. Albert, in which Const. David Wynn was killed, and Auxiliary Const. Derek Bond was injured.
Association spokesperson Rob Creasser, a retired 28-year member of the RCMP, said he was not at liberty to disclose the exact nature of the recommendations being appealed, because he has not yet received permission from the labour investigator to make them public.
“I can speak in generalities in that it does involve equipment, and also deal with the role of auxiliaries,” he said.
He added he believes this is connected to the RCMP’s recent announcement the scope of auxiliary officers’ would be reduced, although he can’t make that direct link.
Creasser said the association believes it important to respond to the appeal because the directions given would enhance the safety of officers, and therefore also the safety of the public.
“In the case of St. Albert there were directions given by another federal agency, Labour Canada, to correct certain things they said need to be corrected,” he said. “It will force our management to provide the tools and equipment we need to do that work.”
He added this appeal process highlights the need for RCMP officers to have the right to form a union – something the Supreme Court of Canada has said the federal government must address with legislation by the end of May 2016.
“The system that was in place in the RCMP was found to have no independence from management, and was basically what the court referred to as a human resources scheme,” he said. “It was called the Staff Relations Representative Program and it’s on its way out the door as we speak.”
Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer, a media-relations officer with the RCMP’s national office, said as the matter is currently before the courts it would be inappropriate to comment.
Wynn and Bond were shot at the Apex Casino on Jan. 17, 2015 while investigating a stolen-vehicle complaint. Wynn succumbed to his injuries and died four days later.
St. Albert RCMP Insp. Ken Foster has previously told the Gazette he cannot comment on the investigations into the incident as several investigations, both internal and external, are still underway.
“Certainly if there’s things we can do better or differently, we take that to heart and implement any of those recommendations,” he said in an interview in January this year.
