Release of Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement

NATIONAL DISTRIBUTION TO INDIVIDUAL MAILBOXES APPROVED BY COMMISSIONER BRENDA LUCKI ON NOVEMBER 19, 2020.

Release of the Final Report on the Implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement

Today, the Honourable Michel Bastarache released his Final Report on the Implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement. It details historical and more recent experiences of violence, sexual assault, harassment and discrimination against women RCMP employees in a place that should be safe and healthy: their workplace…Our workplace.

Justice Bastarache’s report was difficult to read. I find myself frustrated, angered and saddened by the experiences of these women, but I am also encouraged by their strength in coming forward. While these women’s stories are hard to hear, acknowledging and understanding these experiences and the underlying factors that allowed them to occur over and over is critical to transforming our organizational culture. Please take the time to read the report (https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/final-report-implementation-merlo-davidson-settlement-agreement), as well as the RCMP’s public response on our website (https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/rcmp-response-the-report-the-independent-assessors-the-claims-made-the-merlodavidson-settlement).

You have no doubt heard us say that harassment of any kind is unacceptable and not tolerated in the RCMP. I know we believe that to be the truth. But the facts are, despite all the reports, recommendations and change initiatives implemented over the last three decades, this behaviour continues to surface. It must stop. There is no room in the RCMP for this behaviour. With the support of your management team, I am committed to meaningful change so that we can all leave this organization better than when we joined.

The women who came forward and disclosed their experiences of violence, sexual assault and harassment did so with courage to ensure the injustices they experienced never happen again. I recognize how difficult it may have been to participate in the assessment process, and would like to thank those employees who so bravely came forward and spoke their truth.

I would also like to acknowledge the impact the report may have on others not directly implicated in the claims process. Violence, sexual assault, harassment and discrimination have no place in the RCMP and I have made it my priority to set us on a path to a healthy and inclusive workplace culture. This is no easy task, it is incumbent on all employees to come forward and speak out if they witness this type of behaviour.

When I became Commissioner, I was given a mandate to modernize and reform the culture and management practices of the RCMP (https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/commissioners-mandate-letter). In the past two years, there has been considerable progress, such as the establishment of the Management Advisory Board in 2019. Additionally, we have:

• Centralized harassment complaint intake
• Expanded access to informal conflict management tools
• Achieved gender parity at the highest levels
• Implemented GBA+ across the organization

These are a fraction of our accomplishments and we have already begun to implement the Vision150 Modernization agenda. Our Vision150 modernization agenda is ambitious and addresses the four key themes that carried through this report: harassment, systemic barriers, how we recruit and onboard new employees, and training and leadership. I am encouraged that these initiatives are aligned to Justice Bastarache’s recommendations as well as many others that came before. With this in mind, I will stress that not all the recommendations are within the RCMP’s control.

My response highlights new actions that will build on our work to date including the establishment of a new Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution (ICHR). Aligned with best practices and informed by expert recommendations, the ICHR will be a civilian-staffed regime outside the chain-of-command, to ensure employees have access to a trusted, consistent process that is accessible, timely and accountable. The ICHR will begin operating in summer 2021.

All employees deserve to work in a healthy, respectful and safe environment, free from violence, sexual assault, harassment and discrimination. We all have a responsibility to foster this environment – by thinking about our actions, challenging our assumptions and biases, engaging with diverse employees across the organization, and speaking out against wrongs. We can only realize this goal if we all work together.

Brenda Lucki
Commissioner