Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police | |
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Commissaire de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada | |
Royal Canadian Mounted Police | |
Reports to | Minister of Public Safety |
Appointer | Governor in Council on the advice of the prime minister |
Term length | At His Majesty's pleasure |
Constituting instrument | Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act |
Inaugural holder | W. Osborne Smith |
Formation | 1873 |
Website | www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca |
The commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (French : commissaire de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada) is the professional head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The commissioner exercises control and management of the RCMP under the direction of the minister of public safety. The position is a Governor in Council appointment made on the advice of the prime minister of Canada.
In addition to his or her role in the management of the RCMP, the commissioner serves as Principal Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces. Under the Firearms Act, the RCMP commissioner also serves as the commissioner of firearms, the chief executive of the Canadian Firearms Program. [1]
Michael Duheme is the 25th commissioner of the RCMP, having taken office in an interim capacity on March 17, 2023, and permanently as of the Change Command ceremony held on May 25, 2023. [2]
Queen Elizabeth II was commissioner-in-chief from 2012 to 2022, and King Charles III was honorary commissioner of the RCMP from 2012 until 2023. [3] In recognition of the RCMP's 150th anniversary and the upcoming coronation, on April 28, 2023, King Charles III consented to assume the title of the RCMP Commissioner-in-Chief. [4] However, neither appointment (commissioner-in-chief or honorary commissioner) exercises a substantive role in the operation of the organization.
There have been 25 commissioners, including one acting commissioners and one interim commissioner, and excluding one unofficial acting commissioner since the founding of the North-West Mounted Police in 1873:
Agency | No. | Image | Name | Term start | Term end | Notes |
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North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) designated "Royal" in 1904 (RNWMP) (1873–1920) | 1 | W. Osborne Smith | September 25, 1873 | October 17, 1873 | Acting commissioner of the NWMP | |
2 | George Arthur French | October 18, 1873 | July 21, 1876 | |||
3 | James Farquharson MacLeod | July 22, 1876 | October 31, 1880 | |||
4 | Acheson Gosford Irvine | November 1, 1880 | March 31, 1886 | First Canadian born man to hold the post | ||
5 | Lawrence William Herchmer | April 1, 1886 | July 31, 1900 | Was a civilian at the time of his appointment although with an army background. | ||
6 | Aylesworth Bowen Perry | August 1, 1900 | March 31, 1923 | Perry was the commissioner of the NWMP when King Edward VII awarded the force the title "Royal" (RNWMP) in 1904, and was still commissioner when the RNWMP merged with the Dominion Police in 1920 to form the RCMP, with Perry appointed the first commissioner of the RCMP. | ||
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) (1920–present) | ||||||
7 | Cortlandt Starnes | April 1, 1923 | July 31, 1931 | First French Canadian to hold the office. | ||
8 | Sir James Howden MacBrien | August 1, 1931 | March 5, 1938 | Only Commissioner to die in office of a heart attack. One of only two Mounties to be knighted for his WWI service with the British Army. Had some NWMP training prior to WWI but was called up as a reservist just after training in 1914. | ||
9 | Stuart Taylor Wood | March 6, 1938 | April 30, 1951 | He was related to Zackery Taylor and Jefferson Davis and born in Charleston, South Corallina but raised in Halifax as well in a lot of early NWMP post's in the west and north of Canada. His father also held high rank within the NWMP as well. | ||
10 | Leonard Hanson Nicholson | May 1, 1951 | March 31, 1959 | |||
11 | Charles Edward Rivett-Carnac | April 1, 1959 | March 31, 1960 | |||
12 | Clifford Walter Harvison | April 1, 1960 | October 31, 1963 | |||
13 | George Brinton McClellan | November 1, 1963 | August 14, 1967 | |||
14 | Malcolm Francis Aylesworth Lindsay | August 15, 1967 | September 30, 1969 | RCMP Patrol Vessel Lindsay was named in his honour. | ||
15 | William Leonard Higgitt | October 1, 1969 | December 28, 1973 | RCMP Patrol Vessel Higgitt was named in his honour. | ||
16 | Maurice Jean Nadon | January 1, 1974 | August 31, 1977 | RCMP Patrol Vessel Nadon was named in his honour. The present day RCMP National Headquarters building in Ottawa was named in his honour on October 5th, 2011. | ||
17 | Robert Henry Simmonds | September 1, 1977 | August 31, 1987 | RCMP Patrol Vessel Simmonds was named in his honour. | ||
18 | Norman Inkster | September 1, 1987 | June 24, 1994 | RCMP Patrol Vessel Inkster was named in his honour. | ||
19 | Joseph Philip Robert Murray | June 25, 1994 | September 1, 2000 | |||
20 | Giuliano Zaccardelli | September 2, 2000 | December 15, 2006 | |||
21 | Beverley Busson | December 15, 2006 | July 16, 2007 | Interim commissioner; Busson was the RCMP's first female commissioner. | ||
22 | William J. S. Elliott | July 16, 2007 | November 20, 2011 | First civilian commissioner. | ||
23 | Bob Paulson | November 21, 2011 | June 30, 2017 | |||
— | Dan Dubeau | June 30, 2017 | April 16, 2018 | Acting commissioner; Dubeau served in the role at the rank of deputy commissioner. | ||
24 | Brenda Lucki | April 16, 2018 | March 17, 2023 | Lucki was the RCMP's first permanent female commissioner. | ||
25 | Michael Duheme | March 17, 2023 | Incumbent |
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, commonly known in English as the Mounties, is the federal and national police service of Canada. As police services are the constitutional responsibility of provinces and territories of Canada, the RCMP's primary responsibility is the enforcement of federal criminal law, and sworn members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. However, the service also provides police services under contract to eight of Canada's provinces, all three of Canada's territories, more than 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. In addition to enforcing federal legislation and delivering local police services under contract, the RCMP is responsible for border integrity; overseeing Canadian peacekeeping missions involving police; managing the Canadian Firearms Program, which licenses and registers firearms and their owners; and the Canadian Police College, which provides police training to Canadian and international police services. Despite its name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are no longer an actual mounted police service, and horses are only used at ceremonial events.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is Canada's main national intelligence agency. It is responsible for collecting, analysing, reporting and disseminating intelligence on threats to Canada's national security, and conducting operations, covert and overt, within Canada and abroad. The agency also reports to and advises the minister of public safety on national security issues and situations that threaten the security of the nation.
Firearms in Canada are federally regulated through the Firearms Act and related provisions of the Criminal Code. Regulation is largely about licensing and registration of firearms, including air guns with a muzzle velocity of more than 500 ft/s or 150 m/s and muzzle energy greater than 4.2 ft⋅lb or 5.7 J.
The Canadian Firearms Registry is the gun registry of Canada, requiring the registration of all restricted and prohibited firearms in the country. It is managed by the Canadian Firearms Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as part of the RCMP's responsibilities under the Firearms Act, 1995.
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Canadian Firearms Program, formerly Canada Firearms Centre is a Canadian government program within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Policing Support Services, responsible for licensing and regulating firearms in Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has, between 1969 and 2023, presented seven police service horses from the Musical Ride unit to two of Canada's monarchs: six horses to Queen Elizabeth II and one to King Charles III. PSH Burmese was used by Elizabeth for Trooping the Colour between 1969 and 1986. Charles has done the same with PSH Noble since 2023.
The Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a special unit showcasing the equestrian skills performed by 32 cavalry who are regular members of the force. It holds events held in Canada and worldwide to promote the RCMP. The first official ride was held in 1887 in Regina, District of Assiniboia, and was commanded by Inspector William George Matthews.
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Beverley Ann Busson is a Canadian Senator and former police officer who served as the 21st commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from December 2006 to June 2007. She was the first woman to hold this position and was appointed on an interim basis in the wake of Giuliano Zaccardelli's resignation amid controversy. Busson's subsequent appointment as a member of the Senate of Canada representing British Columbia was announced on September 24, 2018.
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The police in Canada's ranks differ according to the different police forces and depend on different laws at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels.
Michael Duheme is the 25th Commissioner of Royal Canadian Mounted Police, having taken office in an interim capacity, following the retirement of Commissioner Brenda Lucki on March 17, 2023, and permanently as of the Change of Command ceremony held on May 25, 2023.