RCMP commissioner 'deeply concerned' after CBC-backed prank show targets Mounties

OTTAWA — The head of the RCMP says the force raised concerns directly to the CBC over a joint production that targeted RCMP veterans, saying he is “deeply concerned” for the mental health of those involved.

Mike Duheme, who has served as commissioner since 2023, says he was informed that a female member of the RCMP Veterans’ Association had volunteered to take part in a CBC documentary about life after policing only to later report that she was “subjected to a prank” during filming that took place in Vancouver back in March.

“Since that time, the RCMP has been working on behalf of the (veterans’ association) and has communicated our concerns directly to CBC. It is our understanding that the CBC has put production on hold,” Duheme said in a statement on Monday.

“I am deeply concerned for the mental health and well-being of the veterans affected by this experience,” he added, saying the force would continue working with the veterans’ association and its membership “to ensure that those impacted have access to appropriate resources.”

Duheme’s comment come after the National Police Federation, a union representing around 20,000 active and retired Mounties, raised its own set of concerns citing how many former members deal with psychological-related distresses and other injuries from their time spent with the force, expressing worry that seeing them targeted for a spoof-style show risks exacerbating those conditions.

The production in question was a prank show that carried the working title “Northland Tales,” which was in production for CBC Entertainment and APTN.

At least one former RCMP member has shared in a YouTube video that he was contacted by the production to take part in what he thought was a series that focused on how officers transition to civilian life only to find out while filming in Vancouver that the whole thing had been set up as a prank, which included a fake video of King Charles III announcing the dissolution of the Mounties as a result of the force’s historical dealings with First Nations.

Brian Sauve, president of the National Police Federation, told National Post in an interview last week that he did not have exact figures for how many former officers may have been contacted or decided to participate, but said it was “not a one-off scenario.”

Chuck Thompson, head of public affairs for CBC, said in a previous statement that it had paused production in light of the concerns raised and underscored how the news wings of CBC and APTN had “no involvement in this production or prior knowledge of it.”

Thompson said the broadcaster was reviewing the footage collected to date, saying in its previous statement it was important that the “entertainment series does not negatively impact our news brand. ”

He described the show as an “Indigenous-led unscripted, half-hour comedy series,” which was first pitched as part of a festival back in 2024.

“Social experiments and satirical prank shows are a long-established television format used by broadcasters and streamers around the world, including many public broadcasters,” Thompson wrote last week.

“In this case, the Indigenous creators are using the format for ‘Northland Tales.’ A form of comedy is being deployed to increase better understanding of historical injustices against Indigenous peoples and support truth and reconciliation in Canada.”

Conservative politicians, some of whom say they were also contacted for the series, have raised questions about the reasons CBC, the country’s publicly-funded broadcaster, involved itself in such a project.

According to academics and conservative commenters who shared online that they were also contacted by the production, it appears the show targeted those known for expressing criticism over the media coverage and claims from a First Nations in British Columbia who announced in 2021 that ground-penetrating radar has detected 215 possible unmarked graves, linked to a former residential school.

When it comes to the RCMP, past commissioners of the force have apologized for the role the institution played in supporting the government-funded, church-run residential school system, where thousands of Indigenous children were forced to attend and where many suffered physical and sexual abuse, as well as malnutrition.

A 2011 report confirmed RCMP officers had assisted federal agents in apprehending children from their homes and levied fines against parents who did not send their children.

National Post

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