Commission of Inquiry Concerning Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police : The Commission of Inquiry Concerning Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was established under Order in Council P.C. 1911, 6 July 1977, amended by Order in Council P.C. 2914, 28 October 1980, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1970, c.I-13) and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Commission was mandated (a) to conduct such investigations as in the opinion of the Commissioners are necessary to determine the extent and prevalence of investigative practices or other activities involving members of the RCMP that are not authorized or provided for by law and, in this regard, to inquire into the relevant policies and procedures that govern the activities of the RCMP in the discharge of its responsibility to protect the security of Canada; (b) report the facts relating to any investigative action or other activity involving persons who were members of the RCMP that was not authorized or provided for by law as may be established before the commission, and to advise as to any further action that the Commissioners may deem necessary and desirable in the public interest; and (c) to advise and make such report as the Commissioners deem necessary and desirable in the interest of Canada, regarding the policies and procedures governing the activities of the RCMP in the discharge of its responsibility to protect the security of Canada, the means to implement such policies and procedures, as well as the adequacy of the laws of Canada as they apply to such policies and procedures, having regard to the needs of the security of Canada. The commissioners were David C. McDonald, Chairman; Donald S. Rickerd and Guy Gilbert. The secretary was H.R. Johnson.
In March 1976, the trial of Robert Samson, a former constable of the RCMP and a member of the RCMP Security Service, took place in Montreal. Samson was in court on charges arising from the bombing of the Montreal residence of a Steinberg's supermarket executive. During his trial, Samson testified that he had been involved in other questionable activities for the RCMP besides the bombing incident. When asked to explain he referred to "Operation Bricole." This was the code name for the unlawful entry and removal of documents from the Agence de Presse Libre du Québec (APLQ), a left-wing news agency located at 3459 St. Hubert Street, Montreal, which had occurred on 7 October 1972.
Samson's testimony resulted in considerable public interest and concern was evident at senior levels of government. In fact, Francis Fox, the Solicitor General of Canada, told the House of Commons, on 17 June 1977, that the federal government considered the appointment of a royal commission at that time. But, the idea was dropped because Maurice Nadon, Commissioner of the RCMP and Michael Dare, the Director General of the RCMP Security Service, assured Prime Minister Trudeau and Solicitor General Fox that the APLQ matter "was exceptional and isolated and that directives of the RCMP to its members clearly require that all their actions take place within the law". As it turned out, the APLQ matter was far from an isolated incident. The RCMP Security Service had indeed been involved in other unlawful activities.
After Samson, and others who took part in the APLQ incident, pleaded guilty, the implications of the case became widely known. The fact that officers from three different police forces namely: the RCMP Security Service, the Quebec Provincial Police Force and the Montreal City Police had participated in the APLQ break-in indicated that it was a highly organized operation. The Government of Quebec reacted to the APLQ affair by appointing a commission of inquiry under Jean Keable to investigate that incident, as well as other unauthorized activities of the RCMP in the province.
Soon, more about activities of the RCMP Security Service that were not authorized or provided for by law became known, but the most disturbing revelations came from within the force itself. When ex-Staff Sergeant Donald McCleery and ex-Sergeant Gilles Brunet met with senior officials of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice, on 6 and 23 June 1977, concerning their discharge from the force, they made allegations that other members of the RCMP Security Service had been involved in searches without warrants, unauthorized mail openings and the use of forged documents.
Fox took this information, and disclosures from others, to RCMP Commissioner Nadon who asked the Minister to have a commission of inquiry established.
On 6 July 1977, Fox announced, in the House of Commons, the appointment of a royal commission to investigate "the scope and frequency of inquiry practices and other activities which are not permitted or provided for in the law involving members of the RCMP." At that moment, Fox elaborated on the circumstances leading up to appointment of the royal commission as follows:
"These allegations received our immediate attention. At my request, the deputy Solicitor General of Canada and the assistant Attorney General, criminal law, personally met with some of the individuals who made these allegations. In addition, I asked the Commissioner of the RCMP to undertake the investigations which were warranted. He later informed me, after having made preliminary inquiries, that some of these allegations might well have some basis in fact. According to the Commissioner, it would appear that some members of the RCMP in the discharge of their responsibility to protect national security could well have used methods or could have been involved in actions which were neither authorized nor provided for by law. As a result, the Commissioner has modified his position and has recommended that the government establish a commission of inquiry into the operations and the policies of the RCMP security service, on a national basis" (See House of Commons, Debates, 17 June and 6 July 1977, p. 6793 and p. 7365; John Sawatsky, Men In The Shadows: The RCMP Security Service, Toronto, Doubleday Canada Ltd., 1980, pp. 278-283; Richard Cleroux, Official Secrets: The Story Behind The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Toronto, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1990, pp. 37-50; and Commission of Inquiry Concerning Certain Activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Second Report, Freedom and Security Under the Law, August 1981, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada, 1981, Vol. 1, pp. 7-11).
According to the Second Report of the Commissioners (Vol. 1, p. 24), 169 public hearings and 144 in-camera hearings of the commission were held from 18 October 1977 to 25 August 1981, to receive evidence or for the presentation of submissions. There were 524 exhibits filed at in-camera hearings of the commission and 468 exhibits filed at public hearings.
The commission also conducted investigations of allegations, held formal briefings and several informal meetings. In addition, they visited and obtained information from the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. RG33-128
