The proportion of Mounties on long-term, off-duty sick leave has reached an all-time high and become a critical issue for the national police force, according to a new outside report.

The Management Advisory Board (MAB), an oversight body that advises the RCMP commissioner, is warning that the existing model of unlimited sick leave at full pay is unsustainable and in need of a rethink in order to get more officers back on patrol — recommendations that are already garnering vehement disagreement from the RCMP union.

"The rapid increase over the past fifteen years in the number of RCMP employees on [leave] presents an area of well-being concern at the individual level and poses significant operational challenges at the organizational level," said the report from the board's well-being ta

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