Ottawa will be looking for a new Mountie leader with "superior interpersonal skills" when it appoints a successor to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott.
CTV has obtained a draft version of the selection criteria that will be used to pick Elliott's replacement.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews sent the draft to a House of Commons committee for review earlier this month and he is expecting their feedback by June 30.
The draft stipulates that the new RCMP commissioner should be a leader with proficiency in English and French, and have knowledge of the "challenges, accountabilities and operating context" of the national police force. But there is no stated requirement that the next Mountie chief has to be a police officer.
Past experience at the senior executive level will be required for the top Mountie job, as will the ability "to focus the energies and talents of the RCMP employees and motivate them to achieve corporate objectives."
The incoming leader will also be expected to have "superior interpersonal skills," which will be crucial when managing an organization that has gone through a recent period of conflict in the senior ranks.
Last summer, it became public that a number of high-ranking Mounties took issue with Elliott's style of management.
The government quickly ordered a "workplace assessment" and Elliott later admitted that there were problems with his management style.
In the end, Elliott kept his job as commissioner and a number of high-ranking Mounties left the organization.
In February, Elliott announced that he would be leaving the RCMP within a few months.
Elliott was the first civilian commissioner to lead the RCMP. A long-time civil servant, he did not have a background in policing when he took the job in the summer of 2007.
