With the RCMP facing several sexual harassment lawsuits, many Canadians – especially British Columbians – are losing faith in the force, and believe its performance has gone downhill in the past five years, a new survey suggests.
Forty-six per cent of respondents are satisfied with RCMP management, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted exclusively for Global News and Postmedia News.
But 16 per cent disagreed – evaluating the force's leadership as "terrible."
Support for top brass has dropped since 2007, when 61 per cent of Canadians were happy with senior management's performance.
Rank and file officers fared better in the survey. Sixty-nine per cent of respondents say RCMP officers are doing a "good" or "great" job, but that figure is down from five years ago (82 per cent).
Several allegations of harassment within the RCMP have surfaced in the past year, which may have skewed the poll's results. Sixty-three per cent of Canadians believe the RCMP treats its members "fairly and equitably." The same number of respondents thinks management can end harassment against women.
However, Canadians are more confident about how Mounties treat the public. Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe the RCMP treats the public fairly.
REGION TO REGION
The force's leadership team proved to be the most popular in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (61 per cent). But 67 per cent of British Columbians are dissatisfied with management's performance. B.C. has the highest number of RCMP officers in the country.
More people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (69 per cent) believed the RCMP treated its members fairly. Again, B.C. was on the opposite end of the spectrum, coming in at only 39 per cent.
While Ontario and Quebec maintain their own police forces, residents in both provinces still have opinions about the RCMP. Half of Ontarians are satisfied with RCMP management, with 44 per cent of Quebecers in agreement.
Three-quarters of Ontarians believe rank and file officers are doing a good job, compared to 59 per cent of Quebecers.
Seventy-eight per cent of Quebecers, and about the same number of Ontarians (77 per cent) believe the RCMP treats each member of the public equally.
Quebec (74 per cent) was much more likely than the rest of the country to favour how the force treats its own workers. The same number of Quebecers agreed the force's management can stop the harassment of female officers.
See a breakdown of the results by respondents' location, income, and family situation.
See a breakdown of the results by respondents' age, sex and education.
From December 7 to 12, 1,021 Canadian adults were interviewed online for this survey, which was weighted to bring it in line with Canadian demographics, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.