By David Opinko

RCMP

Group claims “misinformation” from Alberta Justice on provincial police proposal

Sep 20, 2022 | 5:38 PM

EDMONTON, AB – Organizations are going back and forth on how much it would cost to establish and operate a new provincial police service in Alberta.

On August 16, 2022, Justice Minister Tyler Shandro unveiled his proposal for an Alberta Provincial Police Service (APPS) that would replace the RCMP in Alberta.

Shandro wants to use community detachments and regional hubs to decentralize law enforcement services across the province, as well as to add 275 front-line police officers to the smallest 42 detachments.

Joseph Dow, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, issued a statement last week, saying that the government has “repeatedly – and publicly – made a commitment that no additional costs will be passed onto municipalities if it decides to transition from the RCMP.”

In 2021-22, Alberta budgeted nearly $1.5 billion for law enforcement. Dow suggested that any added costs would make up a minimal portion of the overall budget.

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“It makes sense to study alternatives now, so Alberta is ready to make a transition on its own terms if the federal government ends RCMP contract policing or reduces subsidies to provinces, territories and municipalities policed by the RCMP,” reads a portion of Dow’s statement.

The regional directors of the National Police Federation (NPF), Kevin Halwa and Jeff McGowan, issued their own statement, contradicting what Dow had said.

The NPF says the ministry “continued to double down on misleading promises and claims that a transition to a provincial police force will not result in additional costs, alongside other incorrect information related to RCMP policing in the province.”

Halwa and McGowan point out that the Alberta Government’s own Transition Study shows an estimated $370 million in transition fees to move from the RCMP to APPS.

Once the proposed system is established, annual operating costs could increase by as much as $164 million, depending on the model chosen.

The NPF suggested using that money to instead invest in more RCMP officers.

“Without a magical money tree to shake down for funds, these costs will be borne by the one taxpayer in the province – Albertans – either in the form of new fees or through the loss of other Government-funded services that are already stretched to the breaking point,” reads the statement from the NPF.

Local governments have been divided on the potential implementation of the APPS.

Alberta Municipalities, which represents over 300 of Alberta’s 344 municipalities, is opposed to the change and says the province is not hearing its concerns.

Following a meeting with Minister Shandro on August 25, 2022, Alberta Municipalities said the government “needs to stop planning and designing a policing model in a silo or vacuum,” and that it seems to be more interested in how it can distance itself from Ottawa than protecting the public.

Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn came out in support of the APPS proposal as he believes the town is currently being overcharged for RCMP services.

Van Rijn said the provincial government has been more willing to work with the town to find solutions than the federally-run RCMP so far.

At the time of publication, the Government of Alberta has made no formal decisions on a potential transition to the APPS and it is not clear when a decision might be made.