A change of command ceremony on Thursday officially ushered in Ottawa's new chief of police, Vernon White.

Most people aren't aware that the new police chief's name came up more than once when the House of Commons public acccounts committee recently held hearings into the RCMP pension scandal.

The committee of MPs heard from one of the whistle-blowers, Chief Supt. Fraser Macaulay, who, by the way, was recently honoured by the RCMP for stepping forward. Macaulay revealed how he had complained about mismanagement of the RCMP's pension and insurance funds by a manager named Dominic Crupi.

Macaulay's complaints were later confirmed by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, and Crupi was subsequently removed from his position at the RCMP.

But after sounding the alarm, Macaulay said he was punitively transferred to the National Defence for two years. Not only that, someone within the RCMP filed a formal complaint against him because of his accusations against Crupi.

The person who filed the complaint was then assistant commissioner of the RCMP, Vernon White.

Interestingly, when the dismissed manager Crupi first testified at the public accounts committee, he revealed that he had just been given a new job at the Canadian Security Establishment.

Some MPs were outraged at this news and demanded to know who had recommended him for the position, one that required high-level security clearance. It turned out that after his first day of testimony, Crupi lost his new job, but he later dutifully supplied the names of his references. One of them was Vernon White.