Posted on 06/28/2005 4:31:35 AM PDT by Koblenz
The RCMP complained this week that it had too few qualified recruits last year to replace the number of officers who retired. Applications were off by 28% and only 232 new officers joined, rather than the 300 hoped for.
The force attributes the dearth of prospective recruits to competition: There are too many other attractive career choices for young men and women. Its solution? Buy a brightly coloured van and cruise Ontario and Quebec campuses looking for warm bodies; maybe conduct some focus groups to see why young people aren't attracted to RCMP careers.
We can save them the trouble (and taxpayers the expense).
If too few well-qualified applicants are seeking admission to the RCMP's academy in Regina, it is likely because the Mounties have done all they could in the last decade to scare off young white males. While brass deny it, for a time in the mid-1990s the RCMP had a "no white males" policy. Some recruiters admitted to applicants that the force had a five-year backlog of Caucasian men and wouldn't consider any more until it had reached its gender and racial hiring goals. Just to get an interview, white males needed a score of 115 on the police aptitude test, women needed a 96 and visible minority candidates an 86.
Such quotas are said to permeate promotions, too. For instance, although the RCMP has a comparatively small number of officers in Quebec, bilingualism is a key to selection for command, which has left many serving male, anglophone members embittered -- understandably so.
In 1999, too, the RCMP eliminated recruits' pay while they are training in Regina. Now, during the 24-week academy, recruits typically have to come up with $4,600 of their own for expenses. Room and board is provided, but nothing else. (And even that is treated as a taxable benefit by the Canada Revenue Agency.)
In addition, there is the obvious politicization of the Mounted Police. It is no longer perceived by many as an independent force. Rather, it is now seen as a branch of the Solicitor-General's office like any other. The commissioner has the standing of an associate deputy minister. This has enabled Cabinet to ally the RCMP too closely to unpopular programs such as the firearms registry. Enforcement of Ottawa's gun controls has made the force less popular in places where it was once revered, such as Atlantic Canada and the rural West.
The Mounties also received $3-million in Adscam money, and is widely seen as ineffectual at investigating corruption scandals. The perception is growing that the once proud police organization -- often called the best in the world -- is in the process of becoming a tool of politicians and social engineers.
If RCMP recruiters want more young officers, they might first look to a gender- and colour-blind application process. The force still receives nearly 9,000 applications a year. Surely there are an additional 68 good prospects in that pool -- even if they are all white males.
The Mounties' lustre can also be restored by ensuring the service is fully independent of political interference. The commissioner should become an officer of Parliament rather than a bureaucratic appointee. His or her selection should be made by an all-party committee, rather than by Cabinet.
Before senior Mounties authorize their recruiters to commence their psychedelic bus tour of Central Canada in the search for new trainees, they might want to consider addressing the real causes for the recruitment drop.
"For instance, although the RCMP has a comparatively small number of officers in Quebec, bilingualism is a key to selection for command,"
-- Since french is spoken in Quebec, I would think that being able to speak french would be an asset there, eh.
The whole world is going nuts!
I think all RCMP officers need to be bilingual, even if they are in BC...
Naw, that would require that they step out of their parallel universe into the real world.
So, is Dudley now reporting to Nell? Even though she has less time in the RCMP than he does?
"The force still receives nearly 9,000 applications a year. Surely there are an additional 68 good prospects in that pool -- even if they are all white males."
One would certainly hope so.
How about francophone white Canadian men, do they fulfill a "diversity" slot, or are they just considered "white men" for the purposes of quota bingo?
"The RCMP complained this week that it had too few qualified recruits last year to replace the number of officers who retired. Applications were off by 28% and only 232 new officers joined, rather than the 300 hoped for..."
Too little interest in the RCMP? It's an unpopular career choice among young people? Retention is weak? Too few new recruits?
Canada's a quagmire! QUAAAAGMIIIIIIIIRRRREEE!!!
Wow. Cool. Now I know where I went wrong. Even though I'm a Hispanic, and have labored all my life under chronic heart disease that has resulted in 3 heart surgeries including 2 Aortic valve replacements, I still gotta pay my way because I am to all outward appearance a visually healthy, hard-working white male. In other words my minority is not visible. Look Ma I'm invisible. Didn't the 'Invisible Man' use to be a minority. Memo to Nanny State: I'm hanging in there.
How many times have we seen good police forces and fire departments turned to crap by PC. Lowering of standards both physical and intellectual. Accepting lower grades from minorities and lowered physical attributes for women?
Its happening in the US and Canada both and its not going to stop.
-Eric
No, Dudley reports to Horse since Horse is on the inside track to meet diversity targets.
Koblenz -- "I think all RCMP officers need to be bilingual, even if they are in BC..."
If that is the case then why does the article state 'For instance, although the RCMP has a comparatively small number of officers in Quebec, bilingualism is a key to selection for command, which has left many serving male, anglophone members embittered -- understandably so'
If every Mountie already has to be bilingual, then why is this an issue?
A perfect dusplay of the mental illness know as liberalism.
Affirmative Action = The process of granting a job or opportunity based on race because you strongly beleive that granting a job or opportunity based on race is unfair.
On the other hand, I'm a white female who is mistaken for being of Hispanic origin pretty much daily. Considering I live in one of the highest Hispanic population centers in the US, that's saying something.
I have absolutely no Hispanic blood in my family tree, but being a "visible" minority may just help me. Guess I should move to Canada, learn French (uuuuggghhhh) and apply for a job....
There are pockets of French-only speakers throughout Canada. Nearly all Canadian children are instructed in both languages, and French was spoken in Quebec before the rest of Canada was even colonized. The Quebecois are crazy, but the Ontarians are on average just as liberal.
It is a reasonable requirement for Canada to require some level of proficiency in English AND French ... n'est pas?
The NYPD test in 1974 gave 5 points at the gate for being Black, female and/or a vet. Some folks started with a fifteen point advantage (or deficit depending on your perspective). The joke is that two years later the city went broke and laid off 6,000 cops.
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