Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police | |
---|---|
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 Her Majesty's pleasure |
Constituting instrument | Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act |
Inaugural holder | William 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]
Brenda Lucki is the 24th and current commissioner of the RCMP, taking office on April 16, 2018. She is the first woman to serve in the role on a permanent basis.[2]
The Canadian monarch is the honorary commissioner-in-chief and Charles, Prince of Wales, is the honorary commissioner of the RCMP.[3] However, neither exercises a substantive role in the operation of the organization.
List of commissioners[]
There have been 24 commissioners, including two acting commissioners and one interim commissioner, since the founding of the North-West Mounted Police in 1873:
Agency | Number | Name | Term start | Term end | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | ||
5. | Lawrence William Herchmer | April 1, 1886 | July 31, 1900 | ||
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 | ||
8. | Sir James Howden MacBrien | August 1, 1931 | March 5, 1938 | ||
9. | Stuart Taylor Wood | March 6, 1938 | April 30, 1951 | ||
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 05th, 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 | Incumbent | Current commissioner; Lucki is the RCMP's first permanent female commissioner. |
References[]
- ^ Meet Our Team Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Quan, Douglas (2018-03-09). "Trudeau appoints Brenda Lucki to lead challenge-plagued RCMP". National Post. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
- ^ Smith, Joanna (23 May 2012), "Royal visit 2012: Prince Charles collects honorary RCMP title", Toronto Star, retrieved 25 May 2012
External links[]
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners
- Lists of chiefs of police