Reference no: EM133159265

Strong organizational cultures can have remarkable persistence even when those cultures are toxic and do not reflect contemporary values. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have discovered this, much to their chagrin. Some unfortunate aspects of their culture have become institutionalized, severely hampering their ability to diversify their staff, perform their primary job function of community protection, and modernize.

The RCMP was founded by John A. MacDonald in 1873. At the time it was called the North-West Mounted Police. The force was formed with the explicit goal of clearing Indigenous peoples from the Prairie Provinces to enable European settlement. Indigenous peoples were therefore dehumanized and perceived as legitimate targets for violence by members of the organization from the outset. Furthermore, as a para-military force, a hyper-masculine ideal of toughness, strength, and dominance was overtly supported. The trappings of this para-military history are still evident in symbols such as the heavily militarized dress uniform, the practice of awarding medals for service and using military type badges and insignia to indicate rank, and the "cavalry drills" that are kept alive in the form of their famous Musical Ride performance. Job titles and command structures also follow military patterns. For example newly trained recruits start as constables before rising through to roles such as corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant, etc.

It did not take long before this group of law enforcers developed one macro-level goal that came to symbolize the force itself. The Mounties, it was said, "always get their man". This became an informal slogan of the force in 1877 after the comment appeared in a news story and the phrase has been strongly associated with the RCMP into current times. The slogan encourages a focus on end results rather than process and highlights again the inherent "toughness" of members of the force, who are expected to persist through any obstacles to reach their goal.

As history progressed the RCMP's role evolved however aspects of their initial mandate and culture were retained. RCMP officers were instrumental in carrying out colonial initiatives that supported cultural genocide, including forcibly collecting children to take them to residential schools and suppressing Indigenous protests and marches. Aspects of this persist today. For example in 2019 peaceful Indigenous people in northern BC who were protesting the construction of a natural gas pipeline on their lands were subject to "lethal overwatch". Lethal overwatch was the actual term used to describe expectations in formal RCMP strategy documents, which means that officers monitoring proceedings would be armed and proactively prepared (some would say primed) to respond to the protest by using their weapons. 

It is perhaps not surprising, given their origins, that many Indigenous communities have historically reported widespread abusive behaviour by RCMP officers ranging from stereotyping and inappropriate arrests to physical violence and sexual assault. These problems continue across Canada today, especially but not exclusively in remote areas with less oversight. Credible accusations of sexual misconduct by RCMP officers towards Indigenous women have been especially persistent. Human Rights Watch, a globally respected organization, produced formal reports in 2013 and 2017 documenting this sexualized violence in BC and Saskatchewan. These reports were released against a backdrop of similar internal complaints about sexual harassment and sexual assault by female RCMP officers, including credible reports of over 130 severe officer-on-officer penetrative sexual assaults in recent years. Their complaints, much like those of Indigenous peoples, have often been dismissed. Official responses to complaints were often inadequate, with many women reporting that they, as complainants, were put on leave while their harassers received either no sanctions or extremely light sanctions. In one case a female officer was still away on administrative leave a year later "pending investigation" while the officer she had accused of rape was promoted. One repeat offender who assaulted multiple women had been relocated to new divisions (but not disciplined) a total of 15 times! Informal responses to complaints were also highly problematic. In another documented case a female officer was deliberately left without back-up in a dangerous law enforcement situation in retaliation for her complaint against a peer, ultimately resulting in a preventable disabling injury. A recent class action lawsuit launched by these employers was successful, resulting in a 100 million dollar settlement that acknowledged the systemic issues present in the organization. 

It would be unfair to say that the RCMP has ignored these problems. Numerous change initiatives have been attempted, with limited success. Part of the reason the RCMP has had such difficulty addressing these issues is that they are not "change ready," according to Dr. Linda Duxbury, who wrote an independent report assessing their culture. She reported that the general culture was "exploitative, paramilitary, respectful of the position rather than the person, low trust, risk adverse, and defensive." The current culture has also been characterized as patriarchal and "macho." Dr. Duxbury further characterized their culture as "a victim of the success spiral, which occurs when an organization holds on too long to a culture in the belief that what has worked in the past will continue to confer a competitive advantage in the future. The RCMP has failed to realign its organizational culture to take into account new environmental realities. This has resulted in key elements of RCMP culture being liabilities as the organization moves forward with reforms."

This perspective was recently reinforced in November 2020 when Michel Bastarache, a former Supreme Court of Canada Justice, released a formal report titled "Broken Dreams Broken Lives". He stated that "what I learned led me to conclude that a toxic culture prevails in the RCMP. This culture encourages, or at least tolerates, misogynistic, racist and homophobic attitudes among many members of the RCMP. The problem is systemic in nature and cannot be corrected solely by punishing a few 'bad apples.'" Mr. Bastarache even went so far as to suggest disbanding the Force may be necessary, stating "I am of the opinion that the culture change is highly unlikely to come from within the RCMP. The latter has had many years to proceed, has been the subject of numerous reports and recommendations, and yet unacceptable behaviour continues to occur."

Test Questions:

1. Is this officially an occupational health and safety issue? Why or why not?

2. In an organizational setting such as the one described in this case, who would be considered LEGALLY responsible for any on-going sexual harassment? Would it be the senior executives, mid-level managers and supervisors, the harasser themselves, peers, the victims, or another party? Note that more than one party may be legally responsible.