Wednesday, January 27, 2010

RCMP PUBLIC COMPLAINTS : KENNEDY VS MCPHAIL

*** We all know the Conservative government is the patron party of the RCMP - and both of them abhor oversight, accountability and transparency. Not for much longer, I promise. MS ***

FROM: http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/media-releases/17363_just-the-facts-rcmp-oversight-under-the-conservatives

The new interim chair of the independent RCMP Public Complaints Commission, Ian McPhail, is a long-time supporter of the Conservative party with no relevant qualifications for the job. The man he is replacing, Paul Kennedy, boasts considerable national and international public safety experience, but lost his position after making critical comments about the government’s public safety policies.

Paul Kennedy

Over 35 years of public service, past RCMP Public Complaints Commission Chair Paul Kennedy was the Canada’s Co-Chair of the Canada-U.S. Cross Border Crime Forum, Chair of the Canadian National Co-ordinating Committee on Organized Crime, Chair of the Assistant Deputy Ministers Committee on Public Safety and Chair of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission of the Organization of American States.

First appointed Chair of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission in 2005, during his tenure Mr. Kennedy investigated Taser use, in-custody deaths, and the internal investigation procedures of the RCMP.

Ian McPhail

Ian McPhail was named Vice-Chair of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission by Peter Van Loan on January 18, 2010. His appointment as “interim chair” is expected to last at least one year.

Mr. McPhail is a wills and real estate lawyer with no criminal law or policing experience.

He was appointed Chair of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Acting Chair and Director of TV Ontario, and Chair of the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal under Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris.