Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP

The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (CPC), established in 1988, is a federal agency that receives public complaints about the conduct of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) members in the performance of their duties. The Commission holds the RCMP accountable to the public by providing an independent review of complaints and by making findings and recommendations to the Commissioner of the RCMP.

When reviewing a complaint, the Commission does not act as an advocate for either the complainant or for RCMP members. Its role is to conduct an independent inquiry and reach objective conclusions based on the available information. The chair of the Commission has the authority to conduct an independent investigation or to hold a public hearing.

The Commission reports to Parliament. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness tables the Commission's reports, but has no involvement in the operations of the Commission.

Click here to visit the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP official website.

Resources

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No-fly list comes into play
Anyone denied a boarding pass under the program will be able to apply to Transport Canada's Office of Reconsideration. Failing that, appeals can be made to SIRC, the RCMP Public Complaints Commission or the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
HTML | Published: 2007-06-18 | Added: 2007-06-18

Arar inquiry urges more scrutiny of Canada's intelligence activities
The Maher Arar inquiry has unfurled blueprints for a stronger, more co-ordinated family of watchdogs to keep an eye on the RCMP and other federal security organizations. Justice Dennis O'Connor suggests better scrutiny of the intelligence community.
HTML | Published: 2006-12-12 | Added: 2007-01-03

O'Connor recommends more oversight of RCMP, CSIS
The report stopped short of recommending a review super agency, as some experts expected, instead opting for a pair of bodies that will monitor the RCMP, CSIS and five other agencies involved with national security.
HTML | Published: 2006-12-13 | Added: 2007-01-03

Minister Day favours role for Parliament in overseeing security operations
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said he thinks MPs have a role to play in monitoring both the RCMP and CSIS. But he says the members of any oversight committee would have to be sworn to secrecy on the operational details of security matters.
HTML | Published: 2006-10-01 | Added: 2006-10-02

RCMP open to idea of police watchdog
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told the Maher Arar inquiry he is now
HTML | Published: 2005-11-18 | Added: 2005-11-22

RCMP's public complaints commission gets new boss
Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan has appointed Paul Kennedy, until recently a senior bureaucrat in the Justice Department, to head the RCMP's public complaints commission.
HTML | Published: 2005-10-22 | Added: 2005-10-24

Monitor says Mounties block oversight
The director of the complaints commission for Canada`s national police says the force has been using national security to avoid scrutiny.
HTML | Published: 2005-10-02 | Added: 2005-10-06

Mountie secrets hinder rights monitor
Canada needs a brand-new watchdog powerful enough to make the Mounties and spy agencies answerable to the public. In the wake of the Maher Arar affair, action must be taken to compel co-operation from investigators in national security cases.
HTML | Published: 2005-03-02 | Added: 2005-03-03

Overarching intelligence committee urged in report
The federal government should establish a permanent, U.S.-style investigative committee to oversee all Canadian intelligence gathering, and that of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in particular, a soon-to-be-released parliamentary report  [...]
HTML | Published: 2005-01-13 | Added: 2005-01-19

RCMP broke own rule in passing Arar intelligence to U.S., says internal probe
The RCMP broke one of its own policies when passing some information to U.S. officials about Ottawa resident Maher Arar, an internal probe by the Mounties reveals.
HTML | Published: 2004-07-08 | Added: 2004-07-14

RCMP still playing I spy
New powers vested in the RCMP, as well as the renewed emphasis on information-gathering by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and other government spy agencies, doesn't affect just villains. Anyone can get caught in the net.
HTML | Published: 2004-02-07 | Added: 2004-02-07

Directory of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP
Government electronic directory of the staff at the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
LINK | Published: 2001-01-01 | Added: 2004-02-06

O'Connor given wide discretion in Arar inquiry
The federal government is giving Justice Dennis O'Connor wide discretion in his public inquiry into the Maher Arar affair under terms of reference released today.
HTML | Published: 2004-02-05 | Added: 2004-02-05

I want to be able to clear my name
Maher Arar is now focused on the public inquiry that Justice Dennis O'Connor will conduct into his deportation and detention. "I think we should be consulted on the terms of reference," he said, sitting in the living room in his apartment in Ottawa.
HTML | Published: 2004-02-01 | Added: 2004-02-02

Suit alleges RCMP stonewalling probes
Canada's RCMP watchdog has launched a court action alleging the force's commissioner and its officers are breaking laws intended to make them accountable.
HTML | Published: 2004-01-30 | Added: 2004-01-31

RCMP watchdog wants expanded role of monitoring Mountie security operations
The watchdog that probes complaints about the RCMP says it - not a new agency - should be given the job of keeping an eye on the Mounties' security and intelligence activities.
HTML | Published: 2004-01-27 | Added: 2004-01-28

Arar inquiry possible, Martin suggests
Prime Minister Paul Martin opened the door on Thursday to a public inquiry in to the Maher Arar affair even as the government denied a U.S. media report that Canadian intelligence sanctioned Arar's deportation to Syria.
HTML | Published: 2004-01-23 | Added: 2004-01-24

Experts say Arar inquiry is feasible
An inquiry into the Maher Arar case could be held without compromising Canadian security, according to experts on previous inquiries.
HTML | Published: 2003-12-26 | Added: 2004-01-11

CPC Initiates Complaint into RCMP Conduct in Relation to Maher Arar
The Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, Ms. Shirley Heafey, today announced that she is initiating a complaint into the RCMP conduct in relation to the deportation and detention of Mr. Maher Arar.
LINK | Published: 2003-10-23 | Added: 2003-12-11

Foreign spies may have stolen Arar document
Solicitor General Wayne Easter raised the prospect yesterday that foreign intelligence agencies operating in Canada obtained a rental lease for the former Ottawa home of Maher Arar through illegal means, which led to his deportation to a Syrian prison  [...]
HTML | Published: 2003-11-08 | Added: 2003-11-08

Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP
Official site of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
LINK | Published: 1901-01-01 | Added: 2003-09-09