A federal health and safety officer who touched off a storm of controversy when he recommended national park wardens be equipped with handguns 16 years ago is finally able to get on with his life.
On July 20, matters related either directly or indirectly to the national park warden sidearm issue came to a conclusion when Robert Grundie finalized a satisfactory, confidential settlement with the Federal Labour Program regarding his Unfair Labour Practice complaint.
“It has been exactly 16 years, one month and 16 days since I initially received the Banff warden’s complaint – the warden sidearm issues has consumed, whether directly or indirectly, a quarter of my life,” said Grundie, who has since retired.
“I am very relieved that this journey is finally over and I can now move on with my life. I thought this day would never come.”
On June 5, 2000, Grundie received a formal Canada Labour Code occupational health and safety complaint from Banff National Park warden Doug Martin, who believed wardens needed to be equipped with sidearms to safely do their jobs.
Following an investigation, Grundie on Feb. 1, 2001, ordered Parks Canada to either remove wardens from all of their law enforcement duties or provide them with sidearms for protection.
His unprecedented order led to various tribunal and court appeals over the years.
Ultimately, Grundie’s order was upheld, but the face of the historic warden service changed forever. Parks Canada set up a special law enforcement unit of about 100 wardens equipped with sidearms across the country.
Eight years after his order, Grundie’s employer and Parks Canada accused him of wrongdoing during his investigation. He was accused of conspiring with the union and park employees.
Believing his job and livelihood were threatened, as well as his character and reputation, he filed a Canada Labour Code complaint as well as an Unfair Labour Practice complaint against his department – Department of Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSDC).
The essence of Grundie’s case was his employer threatened him with termination and had a disciplinary letter put on his file after they teamed up with Parks Canada to build a case against him that suggested he was biased and colluded with wardens.
In December last year, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board found HRSDC wrongly disciplined Grundie for his doing his job, noting he handled his review of the sidearm issue without bias.
The labour board concluded the evidence was clear that Parks Canada was seeking retribution for Grundie’s controversial 2001 order to equip wardens with sidearms when they teamed up with his HRSDC, now called Employment and Social Development Canada.
Despite the 16-year ordeal, Grundie said he would do it all again.
“It wasn’t a good or bad decision. It was the right decision,” Grundie said.
“I knew it was controversial, but I don’t think there was any other decision I could come to.”
