RCMP SECURITY CHECKS DELAY CREATING HEADACHES FOR EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS
Employees and employers are being negatively affected by how long it’s taking the RCMP to do security checks, says NDP leader Todd Hardy.
"I’ve learned from a constituent who runs a day-care centre that the RCMP are taking three to four months to do security checks on people who want to work for her," says Hardy.
"This is making it extremely difficult for her to hire qualified staff in a timely fashion. It’s also causing hardship for people looking for work in the day-care field and parents seeking day care for their children."
This delay is not just causing problems for day-care operators.
"Due to capacity issues, the RCMP is backlogged with requests for security checks from business and government," he adds. "It is getting about 100 requests a week for this information, and though it has hired a couple of part-time employees to do this work, they are not able to keep pace with the demand."
Hardy has written Justice Minister Marian Horne to bring this matter to her attention. The letter asks her to raise this issue directly with the Superintendent of ‘M’ Division.
"Putting employees and employers in a position where they must wait three or four months to get a security check from the RCMP is just not acceptable," he says. "A solution to this problem needs to be found as quickly as possible."