Grievance Case Summary - G-488

The Grievor was subject to Criminal Code and Code of Conduct investigations, and was suspended with pay. In November 2004, he requested that he be provided with legal counsel at public expense. His request was denied on November 17, 2004. He was aware of this denial no later than November 24, 2004. Although the Grievor repeated his request, he did not present any new information to merit a reconsideration of the original decision. The Grievor did not grieve the original decision until February 28, 2005.

The Level I Adjudicator rendered a preliminary decision that the grievance was not filed within the 30-day time limit required by the RCMP Act, and denied the grievance on that basis. The Grievor requested a Level II review.

The only issue before the ERC was the timeliness of the grievance.

The record clearly supported the Level I Adjudicator's finding that the grievance was not filed in time. Although attempts at informal resolution were desirable, such attempts did not have the effect of suspending or extending time limits. In addition, simple requests to reconsider the original decision did not have the effect of recommencing the time limit in which to grieve that decision.

In determining that there were no circumstances to justify granting an extension of the time to file the grievance, the ERC considered a number of relevant factors, including:

• despite numerous requests to do so, the Grievor did not directly address the time limit issue;
• the Grievor did not provide any explanation for the delay in presenting his grievance;
• there is nothing on the record to indicate that the Force contributed to or caused any of the delay;
• the Grievor's intention to present a grievance did not arise until the end of February 2005;
• the delay in presenting his grievance was significant, particularly because it was unexplained; and
• the Grievor did not request an extension of time.

The ERC recommended that the Commissioner of the RCMP deny the grievance because it was not presented at Level I within the 30-day time limit, as required by subsection 31(2)(a) of the RCMP Act.

The Commissioner has rendered a decision in this matter, as summarized by his office:

In a decision dated June 14, 2010, Acting Commissioner William Sweeney agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendations and denied the grievance, due to the Grievor's failure to present the grievance at Level I within the 30-day time limit prescribed by subsection 31(2)(a) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.