Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Commissaire de la Gendarmerie royale du Canada

Rank badge (left) and slip on (right)

Incumbent
Michael Duheme

since March 17, 2023

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Reports to| Minister of Public Safety
Appointer| Governor in Council
on the advice of the prime minister
Term length| At His Majesty's pleasure
Constituting instrument| Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act
Inaugural holder| W. Osborne Smith
Formation| 1873
Website| www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Commissioner William Higgitt and Queen Elizabeth II, RCMP Centennial Celebrations, Regina, 1973 Commissioner Bob Paulson speaking at the opening of the 65th Glengarry Highland Games in 2012

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]

Michael Duheme is the 25th commissioner of the RCMP, having taken office in an interim capacity on March 17, 2023, and permanently as of the Change Command ceremony held on May 25, 2023.[2]

Queen Elizabeth II was commissioner-in-chief from 2012 to 2022, and King Charles III was honorary commissioner of the RCMP from 2012 until 2023.[3] In recognition of the RCMP's 150th anniversary and the upcoming coronation, on April 28, 2023, King Charles III consented to assume the title of the RCMP Commissioner-in-Chief.[4] However, neither appointment (commissioner-in-chief or honorary commissioner) exercises a substantive role in the operation of the organization.

## List of commissioners

[edit]

There have been 25 commissioners, including one acting commissioners and one interim commissioner, and excluding one unofficial acting commissioner since the founding of the North-West Mounted Police in 1873:

List of commissioners  Agency  | No. | Image  | Name  | Term start  | Term end  | Notes

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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  | First Canadian born man to hold the post
5  |  | Lawrence William Herchmer | April 1, 1886  | July 31, 1900  | Was a civilian at the time of his appointment although with an army background.
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  | Only Commissioner to die in office of a heart attack. One of only two Mounties to be knighted for his WWI service with the British Army. Had some NWMP training prior to WWI but was called up as a reservist just after training in 1914.
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 5, 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  | March 17, 2023  | Lucki was the RCMP's first permanent female commissioner.
25  |  | Michael Duheme | March 17, 2023  | Incumbent |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Meet Our Team Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2023-05-25). "Mike Duheme's ceremonial swearing-in as 25th Commissioner of the RCMP | Royal Canadian Mounted Police". www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
3. ^ Smith, Joanna (23 May 2012), "Royal visit 2012: Prince Charles collects honorary RCMP title", Toronto Star, retrieved 25 May 2012
4. ^ Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (2023-04-28). "RCMP maintains Royal traditions | Royal Canadian Mounted Police". www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-29.

## External links

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* RCMP Executive Committee
* Former RCMP commissioners
* Diary of Commissioner George French

*[No.]: Number