The government will be forming a task force to overhaul the embattled RCMP, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Monday.
"This is an organization with a proud history but history is built on how organizations can handle themselves in the present and that's how they can assure themselves of a robust future," Day told reporters on Monday.
The government will accept all recommendations from a special investigator on the pension scandal that rocked the top tiers of the national icon, Day said, including one not to call a full-fledged inquiry into the matter.
"I do have a great sense of confidence that the people that will be on that task force, coming from a variety of backgrounds, will be able to successfully identify the changes that have to take place," Day said.
Day told CTV's Question Period on Sunday that public inquiries can cost a fortune while, in the case of the RCMP, the government already knows what went wrong and what needs to be fixed within the national police force.
Day's announcement comes on the heels of a special investigator's finding that the Mounties' internal management structure is "horribly broken.''
David Brown, former head of the Ontario Securities Commission, laid most of the blame at the feet of former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli.
Brown cast Zaccardelli as an authoritarian bully whose mishandling of complaints over management of the $12-billion RCMP pension fund destroyed morale within the agency.
Brown also said in his report that the management structure, culture and governance of the RCMP is "horribly broken."
Brown stopped short of recommending an all-out public inquiry into the morass. Instead, he said a long public probe would contribute "nothing of value."
Brown called for a task force of police, public servants and private-sector experts to look into restoring trust and improving governance in the RCMP.
The government is expected to name a new full-time commissioner of the RCMP in the coming days or weeks.
But Day's announcement didn't allay the opposition's demands for a full inquiry into the matter during Monday's question period in the House of Commons.
"Given the fraud with the pension fund and the Maher Arar problem, shouldn't the minister instead agree that a full public inquiry would be more appropriate under the circumstances?" said Bloc Qu锟絙锟絚ois public safety critic Serge Menard.
Day replied that "it's time to take action," but added "this is not the time for another inquiry."
"We want an RCMP that's strong, open, and we're going to do that. That's why I agree with the recommendation to strike a task force to determine a modern structure for the RCMP."
Day has also said the government may bring in Ontario Provincial Police investigators to assess whether RCMP staff committed crimes.
"There was also a recommendation that there be another inquiry into possible crime -- that's why the RCMP has already asked the Ontario Provincial Police to take another look at the situation with a view to determining whether there was any crime."
The alleged mishandling of the $12 billion pension fund and an insurance fund has already been the subject of a criminal probe, internal RCMP audit, review by Auditor General Sheila Fraser and hearings by the Commons public accounts committee.
With files from The Canadian Press
