Municipalities support retaining the RCMP

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on July 22, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

A call to action has been signed by 72 municipalities and other organizations from across Alberta in support of keeping the RCMP in the province and has been sent to the provincial government.

The National Police Federation recently launched the list of those that have signed the Call to Action, to voice concern over continued efforts to advance the creation of an expensive new provincial police service.

A release states that the growing group of stakeholders stands together in support of keeping the RCMP in Alberta and of investing in long-underfunded critical services within the province. 

“Through this Call to Action, we want to make sure that Albertans live in safe and healthy communities that provide reliable access to critical health, social, public safety, and educational services,” said Brian Sauvé, President, National Police Federation, in a press release.

He said they echo these concerns and goals, and strongly believe that the money and time invested into pursuing an expensive and unpopular police transition would be better served by investing in the existing RCMP, the Alberta justice system, and other social, mental health, and healthcare resources.

The Call to Action specifically recommends that taxpayer-funded resources be better allocated to improve current policing services to reduce response times and address rural crime, improve funding to much needed social services programs to address root causes of crime, and increase supports to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the criminal justice system.

“It is imperative that we keep the Alberta RCMP. A proposed shift to an ill-advised provincial police service will lead to devastating job losses and places the safety of Albertans on the line in the name of deficit reduction and the illusion of cost savings,” said Marianne Hladun, Regional Executive Vice-President, Prairies, Public Service Alliance of Canada, in a release.

She said that time and time again, contracting out and privatizing leads to a larger price tag for the taxpayer while at the same time they receive less.

In the Call to Action, municipalities and engaged Albertans continue to call on the Government of Alberta to improve rural police response times and increase resources available to the justice system because the Province’s $2 million Transition Study did not highlight how a new APPS would address any of the above issues.

“There are many important questions that have yet to be answered. In addition, there is little mention of how to retain and equip non-uniformed employees who, in many respects, are the backbone of Alberta’s public safety network,” said Valda Behrens, Regional Vice President, Alberta, Northwest Territories & Nunavut (RCMP-Justice-PPSC), Union of Safety and Justice Employees, in a release.

Behrens added that Albertans would lose the expertise of dedicated and experienced staff who have been serving their local communities for decades. Now is not the time to gamble with the safety and security of Albertans.

The release states that the Government of Alberta has yet to release a detailed funding model that spells out who would be paying the costs of this proposed transition. For example, their Transition Study also vaguely noted that initial transition costs would total $366 million over six years, along with an additional $139 million annually, plus inflation, which has since skyrocketed.

Despite promises to the contrary, municipalities know all too well that most of these costs will be downloaded directly to them, forcing them to find the funds elsewhere – likely, through increased taxes.

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