C-179 - Conduct (Discipline) Appeals

The Appellant is appealing the Respondent’s decision that he contravened the RCMP Code of Conduct by transporting beer in an unmarked police vehicle, as well as the dangerous operation of this vehicle.

In appeal, he submitted that the Respondent erred in law, that there was a breach of procedural fairness and that both the decision and the disciplinary measures imposed are clearly unreasonable. More specifically, he states that, since he is a civilian member, the RCMP Act should not be applicable to him. He also indicated that certain pertinent facts were not taken into account, that the administrative measures taken against him were not considered when imposing conduct measures, and that he was not questioned, during the investigation, about an incident with a truck mentioned by some witnesses.

The ERC concluded that the Appellant did not raise in a timely manner his argument that he is allegedly not subject to the applicable disciplinary regime. Consequently, this argument was not examined on the merits. The ERC also concluded that there was no breach of procedural fairness. In this regard, it found that the incident involving passing the truck was not taken into account by the Respondent in his analysis or in his decision. However, the ERC concluded that removing the Appellant from his operational duties should not be considered in assessing the conduct measure, since this is an administrative measure rather than a conduct measure. Regarding the sanction imposed for not using the RCMP vehicle solely for authorized activities and purposes, the ERC concluded that a penalty of eight hours of pay was disproportionate to the severity of the misconduct. It therefore recommended that only a reprimand be imposed. Lastly, the ERC concluded that the Respondent did not commit an error in imposing the conduct measure for dangerous driving.

The ERC recommends that the appeal be allowed in part.