The UCP government is continuing with plans to establish a provincial police force in Alberta, but concern is growing from several sides, including the union that represents the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The provincial government’s Fair Deal Panel recommended the creation of a provincial police force last year, saying the RCMP has become too bureaucratically inflexible and smaller communities aren’t getting enough front-line officers.
In Alberta, the National Police Federation represents about 4,000 RCMP members and reservists below the rank of inspector. It has launched a campaign called Keep Alberta RCMP, encouraging Albertans to learn more about how a switch could affect them and to contact their elected officials with concerns.
Federation president Brian Sauve said the Alberta government will end up paying more for less. He said money would be spent in the wrong place when the province isn’t ready for that expense.
“When you start to look at creating a police service from the ground up, you have a lot of infrastructure, a lot of challenges and a lot of costs,” Sauve told Global News on Monday.
“So right now, is Alberta in the best place to even consider something to that effect when you’re dealing with the recovery from a global pandemic, when you’re dealing with our natural resource industry in Canada having a difficult time?”
Multinational professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC Canada, is currently studying the possibility of Alberta switching to a provincial police service. It’s looking at operational requirements, processes and potential costs.
PwC is expected to provide its assessment on that potential transition — and what it would mean for Albertans — back to the government by April 30.
“We want to make sure that an adequate and full transition report is done, taking into account a lot of things that most people don’t think about when you decide to start a police service,” Sauve said.
He noted that a common belief that Mounties move from province to province on a regular basis is not true. He said Alberta is considered a “promised land” for many RCMP members, explaining many want to come the province and spend their entire career here.
“They might move from Olds to Stettler to High Prairie to Fort McMurray down towards Edmonton. But the entire time that they’re in the RCMP is spent in Alberta.
With a provincial police service, you would probably end up with something fairly similar.”
Sauve said having a provincial police force would not guarantee officers stayed in one community indefinitely, citing examples from Ontario and Quebec’s provincial police forces. He said members of the Ontario Provincial Police and Sûreté du Québec transfer around just as much as RCMP members do within the province of Alberta.
“So if that’s not a problem, then we really have to look at what the root of the problem is,” he said.
“If it is service delivery, if it’s resource levels, if it’s the number of cops on the street — there are provisions within the provincial police service agreement to address those with the commanding officer of Alberta, as well as the premier and solicitor general.”
Paul McLauchlin is president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta, which is made up of 69 counties and municipal districts. He is also the reeve of Ponoka County in central Alberta and said there’s a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to a provincial police force.
“What is the purpose? What is the point? ” McLauchlin said on Monday. “Does this address crime and does this address the issues of rural Alberta?
“My common mantra through this whole process is: the long game of policing is poverty, substance abuse and dealing with the mental health issues,” he said, adding switching police forces might not change anything if the root cause of crime is not addressed or if wait times don’t change.
“I live in rural Alberta and like a lot of the folks that I represent, we’re far from police officers,” he said.
“The fact is, I have a 30-minute response time to me — regardless of who wears the uniform. So we need to deal with the causation of crime as opposed to responses to crime.”
McLauchlin said regardless of the issues, now is not the time to be making such a huge change.
“The fact is, we’re in the middle of a pandemic, we’re dealing with probably the most depressed economy during any of our lifetimes — if not probably since the 30s,” he said, adding the people he’s talked to are stressed about losing their businesses and feeling the mental health toll of COVID-19 and a potential third wave.
“The timing doesn’t necessarily match up with the needs of the people that I represent and the concerns of rural Alberta,” he said.
It’s great to have a conversation about improving policing — especially if money can be saved — said McLauchlin, who fears switching police forces is really about politics.
“I’m just worried that it’s actually about just thumbing our nose at Ottawa,” he said.
“I’m worried this is a political response to policing as opposed to an actual data-driven, information-based response to real policing.”
Sauve said the National Police Federation conducted a poll last year indicating 81 per cent of Albertans who receive service from the RCMP are satisfied.
“A lot of residents in Alberta think that the RCMP provides a good value for service, investigate crimes very well. They feel very, very safe,” he said. “However, there’s possibility for areas of improvement.”
Global News requested an interview with Justice Minister Kaycee Madu on Monday, but was instead provided with a statement from press secretary Blaise Boehmer.
“Through the Fair Deal Panel, Alberta’s government heard loud and clear from rural residents who expressed legitimate frustrations with the level and quality of police services in their communities,” the statement read.
“Albertans expect their government to consider these concerns and to make an informed decision on whether or not a provincial police service is in the best interests of the province.”
The statement went on to say PwC is meeting with a wide range of stakeholders, “including meetings with RCMP “K” Division in Alberta, the National Police Federation and rural municipalities.”
Alberta Justice said last year that a decision on whether to replace the RCMP will not be made until after the final PwC report is completed this spring.
“The Government of Alberta is aware of the concerns expressed by special interests groups, but this process is necessary for Alberta’s government to make an informed decision on a major policy question.”
The budget for the study is $2 million.
— With files from Emily Mertz, Global News
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