RCMP commissioner getting resistance from within to reforms

Veteran Mountie Bob Paulson knew what he was getting into when he accepted appointment as commissioner of the RCMP last November.

The iconic force has been rocked for several years by a succession of scandals, ranging from wrongful deaths, botched major investigations and widespread sexual harassment of female members.

But a recent email exchange obtained by CBC News shows he still has to sell the massive rebuilding job to many of his colleagues.

B.C. Staff Sgt. Tim Chad wrote to Paulson after the commissioner issued a video statement stressing the need for solid police work, accountable leadership, discipline and a respectful workplace, CBC News reported.

Chad responded, saying there's distrust between line officers and senior managers who are trying to remake RCMP culture to deal with problems created by only a few members.

"We are not all a bunch of screw-ups but it is evident we are all being lumped into that category and we are not valued and trusted," he wrote in an email in July, according to CBC News.

Chad also accused senior Mounties of pushing changes to employees benefits without properly consulting them.

"We are being paid lip service and this is of grave concern," he wrote.

But Paulson was unmoved by Chad's complaints, suggesting the officer is "living under a rock" if he didn't believe the RCMP require an "all hands on deck" approach to restore public trust in the force after debacles such as the Tasering death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski and the wave of sexual-harassment complaints by present and former female officers.

[Related: High-profile former Mountie joins RCMP harassment lawsuit]

"Wake up Man, this organization is at risk," Paulson told Chad.

In an interview with CBC News, Paulson defended his position, saying the RCMP's problems go back years.

"When some of our members think of our challenges as being a PR exercise that is being dominated by some bad behaving members then we do the organization a disservice," Paulson said.

"The employees in the RCMP need to understand what's at stake. And not everybody does. A lot of people do but not everybody does."

Staff Sgt. Mike Casault of the Mounties' staff relations program said he's heard complaints similar to Chad's from other officers and attributed them to the widespread changes being made in the 28,000-member organization.

The RCMP is changing the rules for the way officers are disciplined, which came into focus after Paulson complained there was no way to fire a senior Edmonton officer who drank and had sex at work. He was demoted and transferred to British Columbia.

[Related: Just what do you have to do to get fired from the RCMP?]

The Mounties are also overhauling employee health, disability and support to cut costs, CBC News reported.

When he was appointed last fall, CBC News listed some of the problems Paulson must address, including recruiting more women, aboriginals and visible minorities, reforming the RCMP's para-military culture that doesn't tolerate people who question authority and making its disciplinary system more transparent.