The RCMP is renewing its core values

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is renewing its core values. We're taking action to make sure they are modern, inclusive, and resonate with employees and the diverse communities we serve.

The RCMP completed a review of its current core values in consultation with employees, Indigenous nation builders and stakeholders. Five core values were identified to guide our actions going forward:

• Act with integrity: We conduct ourselves ethically, and do so with honesty, dignity, and honour.
• Show respect: We treat all people with fairness. We value and promote reconciliation, diversity and inclusion by being considerate of the democratic rights, history and lived experiences of others.
• Demonstrate compassion: We care for each other and the communities we serve by approaching each situation with empathy and a genuine desire to help.
• Take responsibility: We are transparent about our decisions and actions and hold ourselves accountable for the results and impacts.
• Serve with excellence: We commit to continuous learning, and work collaboratively with colleagues, communities, and partners to provide and support innovative and professional policing services.

The renewed core values incorporate important feedback received throughout the consultation process, while maintaining elements of the core values that were adopted in 1997. They are put into action in the RCMP's first-ever organizational values statement, which is our ethical commitment to ourselves and the communities we serve:

We are your RCMP

We commit to keeping our workplaces and communities safe and to bringing out the best in ourselves.

We put these words into action to strengthen our relationships and earn trust and confidence by acting with integrity, showing respect, demonstrating compassion, taking responsibility, and serving with excellence.

The RCMP is taking a phased approach in applying the renewed core values that will look to employees for their input for a coordinated and holistic implementation across the organization.

The first phase is to conduct an environmental scan with the support of representatives from across the organization, which will be followed by engagement sessions with employees and bargaining agents.

The information collected will inform an action plan to roll out the renewed core values across the RCMP by our 150th anniversary next year.

Quotes:

I'm determined to bring about positive, lasting change in the RCMP. Renewing the RCMP's core values reinforces our commitment to strengthening trust and accountability with all Canadians, and brings us one step closer to reaching this goal.

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Backgrounder

Renewing the RCMP's core values

Overview

In March 2021, employees participated in an internal survey on the RCMP's current core values. Following this in June and July 2021, 30 internal and external engagement sessions were completed with various diverse groups where we listened and heard what is expected of the RCMP in our workplaces and with the communities we serve.

The renewed core values are informed by the feedback received from employees, Indigenous nation builders, and community stakeholders. Action words were added to each value to better define the expectations of all employees.

The following considerations went into the renewed values and their definitions:

Act with Integrity:

• Respondents advocated to keep integrity as a core value; they stated without integrity you don't have a police service
• Feedback suggested that honesty, while an important value, would be better framed within the context of integrity
• Honourable behaviour exemplifies First Nation, Inuit and Métis teachings, which espouses personal honour and what it means to live a good life

Show Respect:

• Participants universally agreed that respect must be a fundamental policing value
• The definition is strengthened by the RCMP's EDI and Reconciliation strategies
• The reference to "democratic rights" links to both the RCMP motto "Maintiens le droit" and the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector
• Participants emphasized that respect must include how we treat each other and keep our workplaces safe and healthy

Demonstrate Compassion:

• Compassion was considered a foundational value, which is the action of caring for each other and the genuine desire to help
• Participants wanted to add empathy in the definition for compassion
  • Empathy was valued by many nation builders and stakeholders, as it emphasizes the importance of understanding the perspective of others

Take Responsibility:

• While accountability was seen as an important value, many participants pointed out that accountability is often interpreted to apply to outcomes
• Many participants identified responsibility as an action-oriented word that would apply to the entire decision-making process and would be an easier concept to measure
• Participants emphasized that everyone should be responsible for the results and impacts of their decisions and actions
• Many participants wanted to see transparency, especially with decisions
  • Vision150 also advocates for "transparent and accountable governance" as part of the "Our Culture" pillar

Serve with Excellence:

• Participants repeatedly pointed out situations where a person can be professional in terms of comportment and image, but fail to demonstrate any other value such as respect or compassion
• Professionalism is seen as an expected part of the job, which is different than a value and more of a foundation
• Participants reminded us that serving the public – whether directly or behind the scenes – is at the core of what we do as professionals
  • It was important for all categories of employees to see themselves in this definition of providing excellence in policing services, which we all contribute to in our many roles
• Service also references the sacrifice we often make in this profession to serve others
• Continuous learning was highlighted as an important component of a profession