1. THE ROYAL CANADIAN Sexual
Harassment
Crisis
MOUNTED POLICE Assessment

2. HISTORY
 Founded in 1873 by the
Parliament of Canada
 Originally called the North -
West Mounted Police
 In 1904 King Edward the VII
granted the Mounties the title
of ―royal‖ for their service to
Canada
 They merged with the
Dominion police and became
the main law enforcement
figure across Canada
 Women were first able to join
the Mounties in 1974

3. SERVICES AND GOALS
 Goals: Keep Canada and its citizens safe and secure
 Services
 Organized crime
 Terrorism
 Illicit Drugs
 Economic Crimes/offensives threating Canadian Borders
 Provide protection for dignitaries
 Enforce over 250 federal statues and agreements across 4 regions
and 15 divisions They are involved in policing and monitoring
organized crime, terrorism, illicit drugs, and economic
crimes/offenses threatening to Canadian borders

4. CRISIS ASSESSMENT
 What:
 Ongoing sexual harassment case
 150 plaintiffs already
 Started by Janet Merlo after 20
years of alleged sexual
harassment
 Claims she was told to keep her
legs closed after talking to her
superior about her first pregnancy
 Numerous instances of sexually
explicit conversations and objects
 This case comes out of an earlier
one in 2011 led by former Press
Secretary Catherine Galliford who
alleged her superior officer
exposed himself to her among
other discretions

5. ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE
 Repeatedly tells the press that sexual harassment is not
tolerated by the RCMP
 ―The RCMP is committed in providing to all its employees a work
environment free from harassment, discrimination, and any resulting
conflict, where all employees are treated with respect and dignity.‖
 They told the press that they were aware of the most recent claim
made by Merlo and were reviewing it
 As of 07/17/2012 the federal government, who represents RCMP
issued a ―sweeping denial‖ of the allegations set forth by Galliford
claiming that she was an alcoholic who had plenty of time to lodge a
complaint

6. ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE CONT.
 Mountie Paulson—the Newest RCMP commissioner—responded to the
sexual harassment claim in 2011 vowing accountability and action
would be taken in order to prevent future incidences from occurring
via legislation
 Paulson wishes to overhaul the RCMP act to give him more power to weed
out ‗bad apples‘ who give the force a bad name, and hopefully address
public complaints, which hurt the RCMP image.
 He based these claims off of a 2007 report called ―Rebuilding the Trust‖
 In his accountability speech via a Youtube video he promised to fire those
who were accused and convicted of sexual harassment and misconduct

7. MEDIA RESPONSE
 Countless news articles written about the sexual harassment
case– i.e. it is a highly publicized issue
 Attempted to remain objective, and, for the most part,
succeeded with the exception of 4 instances:
 An aggressive interview with Commissioner Paulson where the
interviewer clearly takes the side of the women involved.
 An editorial published by the Ottowa Citizen stating the RCMP are not
going to be able to hold out their assertions that the sexual
harassment claims are overblown or could be handled better, and
instead are developing a negative pattern.
 Traditional Media approach—little social media was used unless
articles were shared via Facebook.

8. MEDIA RESPONSE CONTINUED
Another scalding editorial written
by the Tyee, a British Columbian
publication begging for RCMP to
take responsibility and end
misogyny in the work place
 A blog called RCMP Watch
―Who‘s holding them
accountable?‖ It‘s goal is to
bring up and call into question
every ethically questionable
thing the organization does or
says. This forum is a hotbed of
anti-RCMP activity

9. STAKEHOLDER RESPONSE
 Outcomes:
 RCMP is criticized heavily and sued in several civil cases
 Boycotting is apparently as it is difficult to boycott law enforcement
agents.
 Bottom line:
 Citizens are upset
 the federal government supports the RCMP and denies that any
negligence, assault, or sexual harassment occurred at the hand of
any RCMP officer.
 Evidence of activists groups speaking out against this issue is most
likely evident, but has not been found by this researcher.
 Social Media complaints: lacking hard evidence, with the exception of
shares or re-tweets, which most likely had RCMP negative
connotations

10. RECOMMENDATIONS
 Where to begin:
 Restructure and organize upper management
 Fire all of the officers accused of sexual harassment no questions
asked
 Retract the denial of the allegations. This makes RCMP look less
than sympathetic to the plight of these women.
 Have a twice annual meeting on what sexual harassment is, how to
report it, and what to do to prevent it.
 Post news releases about the issue on the RCMP website to appear
apologetic and transparent.
 If reports decrease, present it to upper management to establish
credibility