Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu and Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard spoke at a town hall meeting on crime in Grande Prairie Thursday. Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

Policing

Madu says no Alberta police force if it means a tax increase

Jul 30, 2021 | 5:30 AM

A meeting to talk about rural crime and Alberta having its own police force heard some emotional stories from people victimized by criminals.

One woman talked about being attacked in her home in front of her child in the middle of the day and not being able to get help from programs for crime victims.

Another talked about arson and theft at her property.

The meeting was called to talk about rural crime and the possibility of Alberta creating its own police force.

Justice Minister Kaycee Madu says he wants to hear people’s concerns.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

“Ultimately, I understand where they are coming from. We are people that love the men and women of law enforcement. We have to have that in our mind, but at the same time, we have to look at the structural problem that led to increases in rural crime in our communities, lack of response time.”

Those in the crowd of around 60 people brought up concerns like cost and the impact on community policing and Victim’s Services. Community organizations talked about working with the RCMP on things like this and feared that programs meant to help victims would be set back if the new Alberta force came into being.

Madu told the gathering that if an Alberta force would not be more cost-efficient or mean a tax increase, the idea would not go ahead.

“That is one of the directions that I gave the consultant. That the cost of policing continues to go up every single year. We’ve raised taxes in order to pay for policing and I do not want us to continue to go back to our people to put in place more tens millions of dollars in taxes.”

Madu also said the idea would also not go ahead if it was not going to be more efficient or result in more officers working.

Most people in the crowd were in favour of keeping the RCMP. Madu says he understands people feel this way because Albertans love their RCMP officers. He also talked about convincing RCMP members to join the new Alberta force if it comes about.

The Grande Prairie meeting was the seventh and final one in a series of similar town halls held around Alberta.