Opposition mounting to provincial police force bill
By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on April 12, 2025.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com
The UCP government’s plans for a new provincial police force are being met with concern by the opposition NDP and the National Police Federation.
Earlier this week the Government of Alberta introduced Bill 49, announcing new steps towards the creation of an independent provincial police service. The NPF shared in a statement that it’s deeply concerned that the Government of Alberta is pushing forward with a costly, unproven provincial police model, this time under a new name, without transparency, consultation, or a clear financial plan.
Kevin Halwa, regional director of the NPF Prairie region, says introducing Bill 49 feels like the second chorus of the same song.
“The UCP government is not listening to Albertans,” says Halwa. “We have done multiple polls and they show very little appetite for a new police service, as they are very happy with the service provided by the RCMP.”
He points out other polls indicate that taxpayers will be happier with properly funding the RCMP and providing them with the resources needed instead of creating a new police service all together.
According to the NPF, rather than investing in the nearly 3,500 RCMP members who provide police services across 99 per cent of Alberta, the province is choosing to funnel taxpayer dollars into the new Independent Agency Police Service (IAPS), a project Albertans and municipalities have already rejected.
In 2021, when a cost analysis was done regarding the Alberta provincial police service, it had a start-up cost of $372 million, plus an additional $164 million each year in operating costs. This was in 2021, before record inflation and rising operational expenses. With Alberta now projecting a deficit exceeding $5 billion announced in Budget 2025, Halwa says it’s fiscally irresponsible to pursue a politicized project that undertakes a major restructuring of public safety without a detailed cost analysis or public mandate.
“They are suggesting it will be a secondary separate agency to assist, but where it ends, who knows. That is a question that has yet to be answered by the provincial government.”
The NPF shared data based on known policing reviews and transition estimates, on how much it will cost to convert roughly 600 sheriffs into fully trained police officers.
• Salary upgrades: $29.36M (to match First Class Constable salaries)
• Training: $5.4M (to meet Alberta Policing Standards)
• Uniforms, gear, and pistols per officer: $7.8M
• New or retrofitted vehicles: $140,000 each (fully outfitted police vehicles)
• Body-worn cameras: $1.8M
• Infrastructure upgrades: Estimated at $32M from the failed Alberta provincial police service (building upgrades, leases, and related costs)
• Other costs: Significant costs for upgraded IT/IM, dispatch systems, legal services and indemnification, specialized equipment and vehicles, oversight, and administrative support
That’s only a partial list of estimated costs. There is no clarity on whether these costs will be borne provincially or downloaded into municipalities.
NPF says the province often touts the Grande Prairie transition as a success, but fails to mention the $9.4 million in provincial funding, with a promise of more in the future, was provided to support that transition. That amount isn’t guaranteed to other municipalities.
Recent Pollara Strategic Insights polling from June 2024 confirmed that 77 per cent of Albertans in RCMP-served communities remain satisfied with the policing services they receive, 86 per cent of all Albertans want to retain the RCMP and 87 per cent want a detailed accounting of the costs and impacts prior to any changes.
Every dollar spent on restructuring is a dollar taken from frontline services like crime prevention, enforcement, and victim support, says the NPF.
David Shepherd, NDP shadow minister for Public Safety and Emergency Services says that with Bill 49, the UCP government is trying to bring through the back door what Albertans already told them they didn’t want through the front door.
“What we have is a very politically motived plan from the minister and the premier to force this through their agenda to continue to pick fights with Ottawa,” says Shepherd.
He calls it a costly political stunt with no consultation that has been rejected multiple times and the UCP refuses to listen.
“This is a government that is far more interested in their own political interests than they are in doing what’s best for Albertans.”
He says Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, didn’t talk to Alberta sheriffs, who are the officers the government wants to use to create the provincial police force, and has not been talking to municipal leaders.
“Pretty much everyone is saying they have been blind-sided by Bill 49,” says Shepherd.
Shepherd spoke against Bill 49 during the April 10 session of the Legislature and said Ellis was “out of touch” with his plan to use Alberta sheriffs to staff provincial police force.
“But sheriffs say he didn’t talk to them, the sheriff branch officer association says Bill 49 quote ‘could have significant negative impacts on the Alberta sheriff officers, splitting half of them into provincial police force could jeopardize vital services, hurt public trust and actually reduce public safety,'” said Shepherd.
After that he said to Ellis that frontline officers are key to keeping communities safe.
“Don’t you think you should talk to them before you start making drastic changes to their jobs?” asked Shepherd.
Ellis denied the allegations as false and said government wants to support the training, pay, and funding.
“We want those who are performing police-like functions to be treated like police officers, which is why we are doing Bill 49 Mr. Speaker,” said Ellis.
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The UCP is once again proceeding with an action that the majority of Albertan do no support. This started with the Sheriff’s being given enforcement responsibilities previously held by the RCMP, city police and border guards. I liken this to Smith starting her personal police force to enforce her questionable policies and protect her when she is sentenced to jail.
As I understand it, the contracts with the RCMP for provinces, municipalities, Indigenous communities,etc., ends in 2032 and it is under recommendations by Public Safey Canada that those who contract services from the RCMP should consider transitioning to their own policing, due to the RCMP evolving to meet the needs of the changing world, so they can focus on meeting those higher priority needs, by specializing for them. The new model focus is on transitioning to independent provincial and municipal police services and that comes from the federal government!
This is not the UCP forcing an independent police force on us, but preparing for what the Liberal-NDP coalition government has suggested should be done to improve the RCMP service.
Read this from the federal website please for a better understanding:
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2025-mdrn-rcmp-grc/index-en.aspx
“Finally, Canada’s role in supporting provinces in their delivery of policing services must evolve. The federal government should be committed to working closely with Provinces to support a transition away from contract policing, while maintaining strong interoperability with federal policing. The expiration of current Police Services Agreements in 2032 presents the first opportunity for implementing this next phase of policing in Canada. The work to define provincial needs and solutions should begin now. The Provinces have the needed expertise and knowledge of their jurisdictions and community safety needs – and should be on a path to fully exercise their responsibilities over policing. They are best placed to define their own policing models, including interactions with the social services and programs that they deliver, with a view to better outcomes and service delivery for communities. These are complex and challenging processes. Ultimately federal resources should focus on delivering the federal mandate to significantly enhance RCMP capacity to address federal challenges.“
It is not the UCP forcing a provincial police force on us! It is trying to follow recommendations and preparing for what the feds are planning.
I cannot believe who gullible people are to listen to the NDP hype to destroy the UCP credibility, especially when there is not a provincial election coming for 3 more years! Do we have to listen to this garbage for that long? Don’t we have enough political drama to listen to without the NDP drama queens stirring the pot? I just cannot believe the garbage media is putting out now!
Let me remind you that this is what the federal Liberal-NDP coalition came up with, not the UCP! Please read the information on the Government of Canada website and try to get informed!