Taking action: The RCMP's strategy for implementing the Mass Casualty Commission Final Report recommendations

Immediate changes made after April 2020

The RCMP began work to address gaps identified immediately after the mass casualty incident, and throughout the Mass Casualty Commission proceedings. Early efforts include improvements such as:

• Doubling the number of full-time resources on Nova Scotia's emergency response team.
• Expanding the use of the Alert Ready system across Canada, including implementing national and divisional RCMP policies on public alerting.
• Equipping all partner police agencies in Nova Scotia with capable radio communication encryption and ensuring preparedness through regular testing.
• Rolling out Blue Force Tracking across Nova Scotia to track the locations of police officers in real time and enhance situational awareness.
• Launching a new course on Collaborative Police Action on intimate partner violence.

Setting the stage

The RCMP's approach to implementing the Mass Casualty Commission's recommendations is to go beyond a straightforward exercise of resolving recommendations to instead focus on creating conditions for sustained changes that address the underlying findings of the report. Efforts are cross-cutting and involve all necessary stakeholders, including the Canadian policing community. To do this effectively, the RCMP analyzed each Mass Casualty Commission recommendation to understand:

• the principle of each recommendation and the underlying findings they address
• the application of each recommendation within the context of the RCMP's structure and mandate
• the broader context of other similar recommendations, from the Mass Casualty Commission and other significant external reviews

To support this analysis, the RCMP developed a strategic framework, as well as a set of guiding principles, to ensure that all efforts lead to long-term organizational reform in order to improve public safety. As part of its analysis, the RCMP conducted a risk-based prioritization exercise to identify which recommendations and themes required the most immediate attention and effort. This helped us ensure we are focusing first on recommendations that have the most significant impact on the safety and security of the public and RCMP personnel, as well as those that would help us restore trust with those most impacted by the tragedy.

The RCMP's overall response to the Mass Casualty Commission is grounded in the following Guiding Principles:

1. Incidents that require a whole-of-organization approach are the new norm.
2. Incidents need to be managed in a way that maintains public trust and confidence.
3. The RCMP must work collaboratively with policing, first responder, government and community partners.
4. There is a need to revisit community safety in Canada to better understand and address the drivers of mass casualty incidents.
5. Precursors like gender-based violence and mental health require a whole-of-society approach.
6. The RCMP must take a victim-centric and trauma-informed approach in all elements of reform.
7. Information vacuums undermine public safety and confidence – transparency is essential.

The scope of the recommendations

The analysis confirmed that the RCMP has a role to play in advancing all 130 recommendations. However, the nature of that role varies across the recommendations. Specifically, the RCMP has categorized the recommendations as follows:

RCMP lead (33 recommendations)

The RCMP has the mandate to implement the recommendation.

RCMP contributor (55 recommendations)

The RCMP plays an important role, but is not able to advance the work on its own.

RCMP impacted (20 recommendations)

The RCMP will be impacted by some initiatives being led by other partners (for example, changes to legislation) and will need to adapt to and apply any resulting changes.

RCMP supporter (22 recommendations)

These recommendations are outside the RCMP's authorities and mandate, but there could be opportunity for the RCMP to support this work.

Our themes

Our analysis resulted in the identification of 10 themes, which we are using to group each of the Mass Casualty Commission's recommendations, as follows:

1. Managing crises

   Why

   A significant number of Mass Casualty Commission recommendations highlight the need to examine our entire approach to crisis management. This includes pre-incident planning, training and exercising, incident roles and inter-jurisdictional collaboration, as well as post-incident response, including support for those impacted. As such, the RCMP is examining its approach to identify improvements across this continuum in order to better serve and protect Canadians.

   Did you know?

   During the tragedy at James Smith Cree Nation in 2022, the RCMP relied heavily on Alert Ready messaging to keep citizens informed and safe. During and following the incident, the RCMP held numerous press conferences to keep all Canadians informed, to the extent possible, about the unfolding situation and the results of the investigation. This same approach was taken following the tragic bus crash in Manitoba, in 2023.

2. Governance

   Why

   Multiple Mass Casualty Commission recommendations focus on the need for improved RCMP governance structures, such as improving oversight of the implementation of recommendations from major external reviews, and implementing the advice of the Management Advisory Board for the RCMP.

   Did you know?

   The RCMP has cross-referenced the Mass Casualty Commission recommendations with those from two recent inquiries: the Desmond Fatality Inquiry and the coroner's inquest into the 2022 incident at James Smith Cree Nation. This is helping us identify where ongoing efforts may overlap, and where additional RCMP efforts may be required.

3. Gender-based and intimate partner violence

   Why

   While recognizing that the RCMP is not necessarily the primary lead on many community safety and gender-based violence-related recommendations, there is still a need for the organization to actively engage with its partners to support implementation. The RCMP must also review and update its policies, procedures and engagement with support services to ensure members are responding to these types of crimes through a trauma-informed and victim-centric approach.

   Did you know?

   The RCMP is currently working with experts to examine the use of supportive reporting centres for members of the public across the country to provide a safe, discreet place for victims to report instances of gender-based or intimate partner violence.

4. Firearms

   Why

   The Final Report includes a number of recommendations related to improvements to firearms enforcement and prevention initiatives. As stewards of the Canadian Firearms Program, the RCMP has a role to play to enhance awareness surrounding firearms regulations, as well as the prevention of firearms violence.

   Did you know?

   The Canadian Firearms Program is updating its website to include more guidance on firearm transfers from estates, including proper disposal of firearms following the death of the owner.

5. Information sharing

   Why

   The Mass Casualty Commission recommended the RCMP and its partners improve information sharing. This will ensure all partners have timely access to critical information to ensure effective decision making, and provide every opportunity to prevent an incident from occurring. The Mass Casualty Commission also recommends the RCMP improve its data management and system interoperability to better support evidence-based decision making.

   Did you know?

   The RCMP is reviewing and updating its operational information sharing policies to make sure it can more effectively share operational information across the organization, and also with its partners. It is also increasing its capacity to help coordinate and streamline operational policy development.

6. Culture and accountability

   Why

   The Mass Casualty Commission exposed critical gaps that, compounded with previous high-profile reviews of RCMP culture, have eroded public confidence in the organization. Issues around diversity and inclusion, as well as its management culture impact employees' abilities to effectively do their jobs. These issues also harm the organization's ability to recruit a large pool of diverse and qualified applicants.

7. Training

   Why

   Training is a major underlying theme of the Final Report. This includes a need to improve available training, as well as increasing awareness and uptake of existing training amongst our personnel. The RCMP also recognized the need to improve its training delivery at Depot, its training academy, as a result of numerous internal and external reviews. The RCMP will work towards improving both its basic cadet training and continuous learning regime for all of its employees.

   Did you know?

   The RCMP's training centre is called "Depot". The average age of a Depot cadet is 29, and a majority of cadets already possess post-secondary education. In addition, some Depot training programs count as credit towards post-secondary education and several post-secondary institutions across Canada have accredited programs in place to accept equivalencies. Depot has been engaged in a significant modernization effort for several years, in response to reviews such as the Management Advisory Board's Cadet Training Program report. Depot is working closely with academics at the University of Regina and the First Nations University of Canada to achieve this goal.

8. Partnerships and engagement

   Why

   The Mass Casualty Commission's recommendations impact not only the RCMP, but also our partners at the federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, and community level, as well as our Indigenous partners. It is therefore critical that the RCMP continue to work collaboratively with these partners, via organizations such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, as it implements recommendations, and communicates its progress. The RCMP will also work across its divisions to ensure that proposed initiatives are supported and applicable in specific divisional contexts and environments.

9. Resourcing and recruitment

   Why

   Ensuring the RCMP has sufficient capacity to achieve its mandate is critical. It is not just about bringing in more members – it is about finding diverse and capable candidates for this challenging profession. The RCMP faces challenges with vacancies, recruitment and retention that impacts every aspect of the organization. That is why the Commissioner has made recruiting one of his top three priorities, with a broad range of actions underway to modernize this critical function.

   Did you know?

   The RCMP launched its Diverse and Inclusive Pre-Cadet Experience, which is a new RCMP recruitment and retention initiative focused on removing systemic barriers that impact racialized and underrepresented persons who aspire to join the RCMP.

10. Organizational standards

    Why

    The Mass Casualty Commission was clear that the RCMP must enhance its approach to reviewing, updating and communicating its operational and administrative policies. These changes will also impact RCMP standards, processes and protocols, and will ultimately result in an enhanced front-line response to critical incidents in the future.

    Did you know?

    The RCMP has reviewed and updated its procedures for uniform disposal and continues to monitor compliance to more effectively track and prevent possible misuse.

Identifying actions

With a framework in place for understanding how to approach the recommendations, the RCMP shifted focus to the most critical step in the approach: identifying the actions necessary to implement the Mass Casualty Commission's recommendations. As part of this, we took stock of the work already underway or completed that aligned with the recommendations. In many cases, we recognized the need to go further, and identified new and future actions to fully meet the recommendation(s). Using its new approach – to go deeper than the recommendations themselves so we can respond to the real underlying issues that led to them – the RCMP sought to identify initiatives that would also resolve the root causes of issues raised in the Final Report.

From July to November 2023, the RCMP held 16 engagement sessions with hundreds of subject matter experts from across the country to discuss each recommendation within the relevant theme as outlined earlier. These discussions allowed the RCMP to better understand the work underway or planned, and think critically about what more can be done. Participants from a broad range of business lines took part, including operations, training, human resources, procurement, policy, and so forth. This allowed the RCMP to identify important interdependencies between different recommendations and themes, and how efforts in one area may impact or support the work of another. For example, addressing a recommendation that calls for a change to operational policy requires more than a simple update to the policy. The RCMP must also: communicate the change to employees; provide training on the new policy; and, monitor compliance on an ongoing basis. This enhanced understanding of the recommendations and their applications in the RCMP has assisted with the sequencing of RCMP actions and is helping to ensure our efforts follow a strategic, well-thought-out path. Over 1,600 work hours of effort went into these discussions alone, not considering the countless additional hours of effort undertaken by these experts with their respective teams on advancing the initiatives themselves. These efforts also do not account for the substantive work that has been underway to advance and implement the findings of other reviews of the tragedy, including the recommendations stemming from the RCMP's Hazardous Occurrence Investigation Team review, or Employment and Social Development Canada's ongoing Canada Labour Code investigation.

Our action plan

As a result of this analysis and extensive collaboration, the RCMP has identified a number of commitments that outline how we plan to respond to each theme's recommendations. Each commitment has a series of action items – initiatives we are taking to meet the commitment, and in turn, respond to the recommendation. Together, this makes up our overall action plan, which you can view in the RCMP commitments and action items section. It is important to note that the RCMP sees its action plan as a living document – some actions may be modified or new ones added over time to better meet the desired results. Others may be delayed as the RCMP seeks additional resources or authorities needed to proceed. However, the RCMP will be transparent with Canadians on its commitments, action items and progress. Through these actions, the RCMP aims to make systemic changes in order to provide policing services with the trust and confidence of the communities it serves.

A phased approach

The Mass Casualty Commission was clear: the RCMP, and other implicated organizations, need to take the time necessary to do this properly. We know our efforts will require a long-term commitment as we implement this strategy, and the necessary changes, over 3 phases:

Phase 1 - May to December 2023 - Complete

Initial groundwork phase with a focus on establishing the Strategic Implementation Team, consultation groups and strategies. This phase will ensure we have a strong foundation on which to build our long-term implementation efforts. Focused efforts to implement recommendations with 6-month time limits imposed by the Mass Casualty Commission.

Phase 2 - January 2024 to April 2025 - Underway

Efforts to implement change begin, as well as establishing work plans to identify the specific actions, resources and capabilities required to implement.

Phase 3 - April 2025 and onward - Long-term

Some longer-term implementation efforts may take many years, as many are rooted in necessary systemic cultural change. Progress will be monitored and reported publicly on a regular basis.

Advisory and monitoring bodies

The RCMP has been regularly briefing the Management Advisory Board, an independent group that provides impartial advice and guidance to the RCMP Commissioner on key modernization and management matters. The RCMP has sought guidance and feedback on its overall approach to implementation efforts, and the Management Advisory Board has established a dedicated standing committee to be informed, and provide advice on RCMP modernization efforts. The RCMP will continue to share information with the Management Advisory Board and seek advice on its implementation efforts.

The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia established the Progress Monitoring Committee to provide a mechanism to monitor, report on, create mutual accountability, and exchange knowledge and information to respond to the Mass Casualty Commission. The RCMP has committed to full, frank and transparent engagement with the Progress Monitoring Committee, and will continue to provide all requested material within its legislated authorities to demonstrate its implementation progress.

The RCMP has also created the RCMP Divisional Consultative Committee, which is made up of members from each RCMP division. The mandate of this committee is to inform lasting, systemic changes to the RCMP's approach to Mass Casualty Commission implementation. It is part of the broader RCMP effort to understand and bring forward innovative efforts from across the organization to respond to the Mass Casualty Commission. It also aims to foster dialogue and discussion within divisions on Mass Casualty Commission recommendations, and to ensure that actions underway are understood and supported by divisions.

Transparency efforts

We recognize the need to demonstrate progress in a transparent manner to Canadians – this strategy is a core element to the RCMP's overall approach to implementation.

To this end, efforts are underway to develop a progress monitoring hub – a portal that will be updated on a regular basis to outline progress on all of the action items the RCMP is advancing to respond to the Mass Casualty Commission, as well as broader modernization efforts at the RCMP. We will be providing Canadians with more information on this effort soon.

As part of our broader accountability and transparency efforts, the RCMP is also drafting position papers that outline its position, analysis and actions underway in relation to various Mass Casualty Commission recommendations. The RCMP intends on keeping these documents as a long-term record, in order to ensure it can explain why certain actions were taken, and also hold itself to account on long-term efforts to implement reform.

Engaging with families

We recognize that one of our highest priorities is ensuring that family members and victims of the tragedy are informed of our implementation efforts. As such, the RCMP has developed a strategy to keep families informed of progress, with all information shared through a dedicated officer.