Ric Hall: RCMP Female Uniform

The early female members in the Force didn’t care for their unique RCMP uniform and argued many years for change.

The Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in 1971 specifically outlined that the RCMP’s hiring practises should be changes to include the hiring of women as regular members of the Force.

In 1973, the RCMP decided to proceed with the recruiting and hiring of women into the Force.  The first troop of women in the Force was Troop #17 – 1974/75.

Photograph of the original RCMP female uniform (Source of photo – RCMP Historical Collections Unit – “Depot” Division).

The decision at the time was to adopt a “significant uniform” for women and was approved by the Solicitor General on October 3, 1974  and Order In Council on February 25, 1975.which consisted of:

cloth cap, scarlet tunic, blue skirt and black shoes.

Photograph of male and female RCMP members wearing their Review Order. Constables Bob Underhill on the left and Sarah Cockerill to his right (Source of photo – Sheldon Boles).

A certain young Drill Instructor was assigned the third female troop. The first two all female troops had been assigned to the Sergeant i/c Drill, like all of the other “physical” units, the Unit i/c’s took on the lead instructor role.

Towards the end of training when we treat the recruits in a little more relaxed manner we usually had a B.S. session in their barracks with them. When I had mine with this third troop of women, Troop #8 75/76, they were complaining about the uniforms they had been issued. The blues they were issued conformed for the female figure, had no pockets and were to bloody tight. The shoes were awful, the so called boots they were given had no support. Their red serge was significantly different than the mens’ and the hat! Ugh. Why can’t they wear the same uniform as the men? So being a bright resourceful fellow this Drill Instructor asked a couple of the tall and slimmer members of the troop to use their female charm on members of the senior all-male troop, and borrow their uniforms. They dressed in all the male uniforms, including boots, breeches and red serge, overalls and congress boots and the Identification Section took photos. He prepared a report voicing the concerns that were given to him by the women and sent it along with copies of the photographs to the Training Officer, Supt. Bill MacRae. Well, the young Drill Instructor’s face was ripped off. Words like “Do you know how much time and money was spent on designing these uniform?” were ringing in his ears. Obviously the young Drill Instructor had no idea of the time and money spent on the design of the female uniform! That was the end of that. Sadly the pictures of those first female members in the “real” significant uniform of the Force disappeared.

Fast forward to 1990 significant changes take place to uniforms of the Force. Uni-Sex Review Order and Service Order #1 – the Sam Browne is replaced for Service Order #1 by a black duty belt. The Officer’s Service Order of dress, brown tunic, pants and shoes are replaced by blue trousers and broad yellow super-fine strip, black oxfords and white shirt. The exception women can wear the red serge, same as the men, in Walking Out Order, but the long skirt is the order of the day, no overalls! That former Corporal Drill Instructor has a smile on his face….he was a man ahead of his time.

Another fast forward to 2012. Vindicated! His fore sight from 1976 that was not seen by others becomes reality. In 1976 he recommended that female members should wear the exact same uniform as male members. His recommendation was denied. In 1990 when a review of uniform design was undertaken a decision was made that women would wear the same uniform as the men, except for Walking Out order. Women would still wear a long skirt. In 2012 that decision is overturned.

Amid allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment, the RCMP brass have recently made at least one change that will please female officers the force is now allowing women to wear pants and boots with all their formal uniforms. It’s been almost a decade since an unnamed female officer filed a grievance because she was denied boots and pants to wear with her formal Walking Out Order, instead of a skirt and leather pumps. ”The grievor is a female member of the force with 17 years of experience,” says a file the RCMP External Review Committee provided to The Canadian Press. That request dragged on with no resolution.

In January 2003, she submitted a requisition for a pair of boots for the dress uniform that members of the force can wear to social functions. The following month, her request was denied with an explanation that boots and spurs were not an approved order of dress for female members, whose Walking Out Order is comprised of a long blue skirt and black leather pumps. ”She felt that the dress policy was discriminatory since it differentiated between male and female members. In her view, the policy was outdated and needed to be modernized. Moreover, she added that wearing skirts was not part of her lifestyle,” says the review committee summary. Her complaint was twice denied on the grounds that she was aware upon her graduation from RCMP training of the uniform requirements and should have filed her grievance then. The External Review Committee disagreed with that, but found her case still did not constitute discrimination under the law. ”The mere fact of having different Walking Out Orders for male and female members is not prohibited by the Canadian Human Rights Act,” the committee wrote to the RCMP Commissioner, with whom the final decision rests. However, the report signed by committee chairwoman Catherine Ebbs said the grievance raises a reasonable question. ”Why does the force not permit female members to choose between the male and female Walking Out Orders?” she asked in the report dated Feb. 9, 2011.

A former Drill Instructor stands vindicated for his fore sight that was not seen by others. In 1975 he recommended that female members should wear the exact same uniform as male members. He suggested to the members of the third all female troop, # 8, to use their skills in enticing the senior male troop to provide them with their uniforms, which they did. He then provided photographs of female recruits, taken by the local Ident Section, in the male uniforms to the “Depot” Training Officer. His recommendation was denied and had his face ripped off…seems the Force spent a lot of money on designing the very impractical uniform for the first women in the Force. In 1990 when a review of uniform design was undertaken a decision was made that women would wear the same uniform as the men, except for Walking Out order. Women would still wear a long skirt. In 2012 that decision is overturned.

Amid allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment, the RCMP brass have recently made at least one change that will please female officers the force is now allowing women to wear pants and boots with all their formal uniforms. It’s been almost a decade since an unnamed female officer filed a grievance because she was denied boots and pants to wear with her formal Walking Out Order, instead of a skirt and leather pumps.  “The griever is a female member of the force with 17 years of experience,” says a file the RCMP External Review Committee provided to The Canadian Press. That request dragged on with no resolution.

Photograph of RCMP female members wearing Service Order with red serge, high brown boots and breeches (Source of photo – Sheldon Boles).

In January 2003, she submitted a requisition for a pair of boots for the dress uniform that members of the force can wear to social functions. The following month, her request was denied with an explanation that boots and spurs were not an approved order of dress for female members, whose Walking Out Order is comprised of a long blue skirt and black leather pumps. ”She felt that the dress policy was discriminatory since it differentiated between male and female members. In her view, the policy was out-dated and needed to be modernized. Moreover, she added that wearing skirts was not part of her lifestyle,” says the review committee summary. Her complaint was twice denied on the grounds that she was aware upon her graduation from RCMP training of the uniform requirements and should have filed her grievance then. The External Review Committee disagreed with that, but found her case still did not constitute discrimination under the law. ”The mere fact of having different Walking Out Orders for male and female members is not prohibited by the Canadian Human Rights Act,” the committee wrote to the RCMP commissioner, with whom the final decision rests. However, the report signed by committee chairwoman Catherine Ebbs said the grievance raises a reasonable question. ”Why does the force not permit female members to choose between the male and female Walking Out Orders?” she asked in the report dated Feb. 9, 2011.”

May 23, 1012 – Photograph of a female member of the RCMP Musical Ride on guard duty at Buckingham Palace (Source of photo – Windy Gale).

If you have any comments regarding the above details or have photograph of the Force which can be included in a forthcoming webpage, please email Ric at rshall69@shaw.ca.