Photo: The Canadian Press

The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday April 13, 2018.

The federal government is creating an external board of civilian advisers to help the RCMP modernize after years of grappling with internal bullying and harassment.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki announced the plan for a management advisory board today at a news conference in Ottawa.

Members of an interim board will be in place by April 1, with legislative changes coming this spring to make the board permanent.

Initially, the mandate of the board will focus on priorities such as supporting the development of a strategy that puts people first, RCMP business modernization and employee health and well-being.

Over time, it will expand its reach into other areas of management: effective use of RCMP resources, corporate risk and responses to address them, policies and management controls that support operations, human resources and labour relations, corporate and strategic direction, and performance measurement and departmental results.

The board will include up to 13 part-time appointees, including a chair and vice-chair.

The public safety minister will be able to direct the RCMP commissioner to seek the board's advice and require that the commissioner report back, including on actions taken based on that advice.

The board will not be involved in matters relating to active law-enforcement investigations in keeping with the principle of police independence.