Brenda Lucki
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Brenda Lucki is a Canadian police officer who was appointed the 24th
commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police The commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police () 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 ...
on April 16, 2018. She is the first female to permanently hold the position. By virtue of her role, Lucki is the ''ex-officio'' Principal Commander of the
Order of Merit of the Police Forces The Order of Merit of the Police Forces (french: Ordre du mérite des corps policiers) is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the only such fellowship reserved for only members of Canada's various police forces. Cr ...
.


Early life and education

Lucki was born in 1966 and raised in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta. She graduated from the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...
with a Bachelor of Arts.


Police career

In 1986, she joined the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP). Throughout her career, she has served in numerous provinces in Canada, to include:
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
and
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. From 1993 to 1994, she served on the
United Nations Protection Force The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...
in the
former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...
. Lucki's other appointments and postings included the RCMP's peacekeeping program in Ottawa in 1995, and she was appointed to Commandant of the
RCMP Academy, Depot Division RCMP Academy, Depot Division (commonly known as "Depot", not ) is the police training academy for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) "cadets." Providing training since its establishment in 1885, the facility is located in the west part of Reg ...
in 2017. Lucki was appointed RCMP Commissioner in 2018 by the government of Justin Trudeau, following the retirement of Commissioner Bob Paulson.


2022 invocation of Emergencies Act

On 11 May 2022 Lucki stated under oath to the
Special Joint Committee on the Declaration of Emergency Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...
(DECD) that "while her agency was consulted, it never requested nor recommended the mergencies Acts use." The Senate and the House of Commons agreed to strike this committee to investigate the events associated with invocation of the Emergencies Act in the wake of the 2022
Freedom Convoy A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (french: Convoi de la liberté, links=no) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created t ...
to Parliament Hill.
NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...
co-chair of the DECD committee Matthew Green vehemently attacked the RCMP and Lucki over their use of "kid gloves... what I'll call a failure of policing" for the protesters at
Coutts Coutts & Co. is a London-headquartered private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, which Lucki denied.


Criticism

Lucki has been subject to a number of criticisms in her role as police commissioner.


Systemic racism in policing

In June 2020, Lucki was criticized for her explanation of systemic racism in the force, when she compared it to height. She later admitted she “struggled” with the concept of systemic racism, and dismissed allegations of the RCMP holding racial biases different from any other organization. After criticism, Lucki later commented that she better understood the concept of systemic racism and how it might exist within the RCMP.


Spying on climate activists

In January 2022, a Canadian federal court ruled Lucki breached duty by failing to respond to a watchdog report on the alleged spying on anti-oil protestors.


Alleged political interference in the Nova Scotia mass murder investigation

On June 21, 2022, the ''Halifax Examiner'' published an article alleging that—at the onset of the 2020 Nova Scotia mass murder investigation—Lucki promised Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and the Prime Minister’s Office to leverage the murders to get a gun control law passed. The article alleges that Lucki pressured the RCMP to release details of the murder weapons despite the insistence of RCMP commanders that releasing this information might jeopardize the investigation.


Awards and decorations

Lucki's personal awards and decorations received during her policing career include the following:


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucki, Brenda Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioners Living people University of Alberta alumni People from Edmonton Canadian women police officers 1966 births