RCMP & PPS Butt Heads

The RCMP and the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) are having a disagreement over an RCMP $2M billing to the PPS for additional costs incurred during the 2017 Canada Day celebrations. The PPS union representative has referred to the working conditions as “a “toxic place”, a regularly used term for drawing attention to their dissatisfactions.

Whenever two or more policing/security organizations are working together some form of rivalry is never too far away. The competitiveness is made worse when one group is earning less and thinking they should be paid the same level. In reality, the former House of Commons and Senate security people are hired for the specific and limited purpose of providing protection. While many RCMP members do not look forward to being transferred to the “Hill” or being assigned to other more mundane protective policing duties they can always look forward to a transfer to another assignment.

As long as there are overlapping levels of responsibilities the potential for internal strife will remain. It will take more than goodwill to fix this problem.