The executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says he doesn't think Prime Minister Stephen Harper should be in any rush to fire RCMP Commissioner William Elliott.

David Eby noted that Elliott was brought in as the first civilian commissioner to reform the RCMP.

Eby told the Straight that he's curious to learn more details about a dispute between senior RCMP officers and Elliott, which was revealed yesterday (July 26) by CBC.

"You don't get reform without some level of conflict because people have established systems and power structures—and all of those things need to be deconstructed and rebuilt," Eby said. "Maybe it's actually a sign that Comm. Elliott is doing some good work in there. It's hard to know. I don't think the government should be rushing to remove Comm. Elliott just because the established senior officers think that he might be a bit abrasive."

Eby also said that he would like to know the issues at the centre of the conflict, which was originally reported on CBC.

"The information is only being made public for a reason," Eby said by phone. "The obvious reason is the senior officers want the current commissioner removed."

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.