RCMP commissioner was a bully, officer tells MPs

OTTAWA – A senior RCMP officer says morale sank so low under Commissioner William Elliott that he had to take a stand against his boss’s bullying.

Elliott’s abusive behaviour was long-standing and boiled over last summer into a public furor, Raf Souccar told the Commons public safety committee Tuesday.

Discontent about Elliott’s leadership within senior RCMP ranks prompted several insiders to describe the commissioner as an abrasive, rage-filled manager.

Souccar said the commissioner would embarrass and humiliate members in group settings.

He spoke to Elliott and emailed him "to try to get him to be more respectful."

"He either refused to change or could not change," Souccar said.

He told the MPs he was not willing to stand by and see the core Mountie values of respect and compassion be trampled. "Someone had to stand up and I chose to do so, along with others."

Souccar and former assistant commissioner Mike McDonell – two of Elliott’s fiercest critics – were called to appear before the Commons committee.

Souccar was stripped of his role as deputy commissioner of federal and international policing in November.

But the career Mountie says he did not leak news of the internal dissension to the media, nor has he spoken to reporters since, despite many requests. "I have not once returned any of these calls."

The government announced last Friday that Elliott will step down this summer.

Elliott said a discussion with the public safety minister and the top federal public servant led to agreement the search for a new commissioner should begin soon.

McDonell had complained to the government that the desire of rank-and-file members for change within the troubled RCMP was thwarted by "inertia" under Elliott’s leadership.

He laid out his concerns about the commissioner in a July 21 letter to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

McDonell, who spent 35 years with the RCMP, was the top Mountie in Ontario before leaving to join the Ontario Provincial Police last summer.

He told the committee Tuesday he asked for an "exit interview" to discuss his concerns but the request was denied.

McDonell said in his letter to Toews that while a series of crises had primed the pump for transformation within the RCMP, "any changes that have taken place were already in motion" when Elliott arrived.

McDonell also took issue with Elliott’s leadership, noting the commissioner expressed a desire to visit police command centres for the G8-G20 summit – the largest security operation in RCMP history – just days before the event.

"At no time prior to the summits did our commissioner choose to visit the men and women working under tremendous pressure to plan the security for the summits."