Unfortunately it was the Liberals who made the position of RCMP Commissioner an appointee of the Prime Minister. The Canadian Parliamentary system and particularly the Liberal Party has gone out of it's way to centralize power in the PM's office. Regardless of how fine an individual a Commissioner may be, he will owe his position to a present or future PM and will never be able to be seen completely free of conflict.
Like, could Commissioner Zaccardelli be currying favor with Mr Harper because he sees a change in the wind? I would hope not but a Commissioner will always be open to this sort of suspicion, because of the way he got and keeps his job.
