Higgs government forced out head of New Brunswick RCMP, letter reveals
CBC
The Higgs government pushed out the commanding officer of RCMP's J Division in New Brunswick earlier this year, CBC News has confirmed.
Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming wrote to the head of the federal police force in July, saying Larry Tremblay, the senior RCMP officer in the province, "no longer commands my confidence" and should be replaced.
RCMP spokesperson Angela Chang said before the letter was released Tuesday that Assistant Commissioner Larry Tremblay made "a personal decision" to retire at the end of this month.
Flemming told RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki in the July 15 letter that Tremblay had been an "an exemplary public servant" but that "regrettably" he was not helping the government "drive significant change" in law enforcement.
Flemming said the government considered it particularly urgent to make drug crime and crime driven by drugs the top policing priority in the province and to "reverse the trend of diminishing RCMP accountability to local government leaders."
He used a section of the province's policing contract with the RCMP to ask Lucki to replace Tremblay "immediately," noting: "It is an urgent necessity."
Public Safety released the letter after a request from CBC News.
Article 7.4 of the province's 20-year contract with the RCMP for provincial policing gives Flemming the power to remove the head of J Division.
The article says the commanding officer "will be replaced as soon as practicable" after a written request from the minister "that satisfies the Commissioner that sufficient cause exists that the office concerned no longer commands the confidence of the Provincial Minister."
The contract also gives the Public Safety minister a say in who is chosen as a replacement.
"I do not invoke article 7.4 lightly, and I regret that it has become necessary," Flemming wrote.
"Please understand I would not be writing if Assistant Commissioner Tremblay still commands my confidence as commanding officer, or if I believed a solution other than his immediate replacement was viable."
Under the RCMP's agreement to provide provincial policing services in New Brunswick, the commanding officer of J Division acts "under the direction" of the Public Safety minister.
The contract says the RCMP will "implement the objectives, priorities and goals as determined by" the minister and will provide information, annual reports on provincial objectives and monthly reports on complaints against the force.
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