Louie Lawless and his documentary "Behind the Red Serge" and my response

I was contacted by Louie Lawless some time ago about his idea of making a documentary about sexual harassment within the RCMP and in fact wanting to put the RCMP on trial.  I sent this email to Mr. Lawless who did not respond because I believe he did not want to know or acknowledge a more in depth point of view about a lot of the negative publicity facing the RCMP these days. I feel Mr. Lawless's film/ documentary is  only portraying symptoms of the cause and not the core issue of mental health.  

I was disappointed that Mr. Lawless decided not to respond to me and felt that to not look at the important issue of mental health in the RCMP would BE irresponsible.  It was not only women that were harassed in the RCMP men were also because of the this serious issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which needs to be properly dealt with and long over due about 15 years long  overdue according to a recent comment by the RCMP management.    

The same issues surfaced in the Canadian Military and other Canadian Federal agencies and can imagine in Hollywood as well.  I am a proud former member of the RCMP and promote its very rich history which has become forgotten to a lot of Canadians and hope that those reading this will step back and see the big picture not just a small part of it which is being made into a film in hope of an academy award.   To not address the core issue within the RCMP and that being the lack of mental health programs I feel is irresponsible to say the least.

There are a lot of good RCMP officers out there understaffed and overworked holding the line to keep Canadian Society safe both here in Canada and on mission abroad and the cracks are starting to show.  It is for these RCMP officers and veterans who serve and have served this country faithfully is why I have posted this today in there defense.

Eric Rebiere (Former Cst. RCMP 37515 LSGC and Military Veteran)


Louie it was a pleasure to talk and get a handle on how you want to present this documentary. I like the approach about putting the issue of sexual harassment/harassment within the RCMP on the table and put the RCMP on trial objectively i.e. interviewing those former female members involved in the sexual harassment civil suit that was recently filed.
Where I believe I can help you and you I,  is to do what I have always done while working as an RCMP investigator and what I have been doing since 2008 as a disabled RCMP veteran with my 24 years of investigative experience, which is to  find out the root cause, the reasons why, the reason why harassment by other RCMP members almost pushed me to end my life after returning from my second United Nations Mission to Kosovo.  It is not just former female members/serving female members who have been the victims of  harassment within the RCMP.

Is sexual harassment/harassment  a symptom of the cause and possibly just the tip of the iceberg of the majority of the problems plaguing the RCMP.  The problem is the lack of mental health support and programs not being funded by the Harper Government for the RCMP. As I had explained  to you on the phone there is no difference between an RCMP officer who had spent 12 years doing highway patrol picking up the remains of accident victims and that of a young soldier picking up pieces of his comrades in Afghanistan after an IED explosion.

Are there mitigating circumstances perpetuating this  behavior in the RCMP of sexual harassment/harassment and the other forms of dysfunctional behavior involving RCMP officers that has made negative headlines in the news media?   Some examples are;
-Suicide of Cpl. Hinds from Richmond Det.  B.C., E.Div.  because of diagnosed PTSD
-An RCMP Cpl. who had worked on the Piction serial killer investigation in B.C. E Div. for a lengthy time and ended up on a BDSM website holding a knife to the throat of a female model in a form of re-enactment.  
-The murder involving a 26 year  RCMP veteran Keith Weiens who killed his common-law wife also in E Div. B.C.)
And the list goes one especially in E. Division British Columbia where the majority of RCMP officers are located.  You have been monitoring RCMP watch and most certainly more up to date on these negative incidents.

Once I was diagnosed by a Veterans Affairs Canada Psychiatrist, Dr. Richardson in May 2004 ( Did not trust the RCMP medical system at all) who was the first to really treat my sever PTSD and depression, recommended my involvement in a program created by the Canadian military that he helped develop called the Occupational Stress Injury Social Support program.  Because of the unofficial open door policy the OSISS program has extended to the RCMP officer, veterans and their families, I decided to become a trained  volunteer for the OSISS program. It was the knowledge learned and the experience of helping other injured veterans, some police officers but mostly Canadian active and retired military where I obtained my insight as to the reason I was harassed while coping with a  severe case of depression and PTSD.   I have learned of cases of those with undiagnosed PTSD who had similar experiences while in the Canadian Military.

The Canadian Military had to act because of the alarming statistics of suicide within their ranks due to PTSD and other Occupational Stress Injures (OSIs)  which resulted in the first of its kind program called OSISS.  This peer support program works because I recently helped a suicidal former Canadian Soldier that seriously wanted to commit suicide.  I intervened following  the OSISS protocol learned in my training and now this former soldier has the right help and is now stable and living a better life than he was. What are the statistics of suicides within the RCMP and RCMP veterans communities which  is a big aspect of my complaint to the Auditor General of Canada.

Louie you know the rest of what I have been up to and the reasons I have surfaced backing up my allegations of negligence against  Prime Minister Harper, his government, the last Commissioner and now the present commissioner for not funding the OSISS program which the RCMP Occupational Health and Safety Branch in 2006.  I have attached a file from the POPPA program which is almost identical to the OSISS program as a peer support program has cut the NYPD suicides down by 80%! This is important because as I said it is now something to compare to.
Policing  in New York, Toronto no matter where is the same.  Like the NYPD, the RCMP are no different except for the fact that the Harper Government, The Minister of Public Safety like the present RCMP Commissioner know PTSD is a huge problem in the RCMP, they have always known our economist Prime Minister sees dollars and cents, saved tax dollars as a priority over the well being of the RCMP  members, veterans and families.

Unethical and illegal under the Canadian labor laws i.e. negligence in preventing suicides by funding the OSISS program makes this obvious. In short this negligent indifference is evil which is not just killing RCMP officers and veterans due to preventable suicide but is killing the RCMP as an organization , a Canadian National Symbol of which the Harper Government could care less.  The issue is metal health support, Critical incident support and of course peer support.

The cost for the RCMP of integrating into the OSISS program which is already set up nationally would be a drop in the bucket.   The RCMP membership are suffering from a lack of leadership and work under an umbrella of fear which will compound things.  It all points to the issue of mental health in the RCMP outlined in the recommendations in the 2010 RCMP report which is attached. POPPA has its on website.

The one thing that is important about the RCMP and I do hope it comes out in your documentary is that things have become the way they are because of neglect and decades of budget cuts by both the Liberals and Conservative. The members of the RCMP as you know are speaking up as well as the old guard the RCMP veterans.

Sorry for being so long winded.  I am tired but committed to what I started.  I again quote Albert  Einstein  "Those who know have the privilege to know have a duty to act."

Regards Eric.