ATHABASCA – Despite receiving dozens of letters from other Alberta municipalities regarding the potential formation of a provincial police force to replace the RCMP, Athabasca’s mayor and town councillors are still “firmly on the fence” when it comes to publicly stating which law enforcement body is best for the town and province’s future.
At the July 13 regular town council meeting, another bevy of letters from municipalities across the province in support of the RCMP were listed in the correspondence section of the agenda — a now-frequent occurrence on nearly every agenda since the Fair Deal Panel made the recommendation to end the province’s police services agreement with the federal government and establish its own law enforcement entity in June 2020.
The UCP government has since hired PricewaterhouseCoopers, at a cost of $2 million, to study the possibility of a provincial force and examine the operational requirements, processes and potential costs. The findings of the final PwC report were expected to be announced in April, but have yet to be disclosed.
The letters often point to the fact the panel’s own survey found 65 per cent of respondents were not in favour of replacing Canada’s federal police force. Another common thread through many of the letters received as part of the municipal letter-writing campaign is the question of who will make up the 30 per cent of funding provided by the Government of Canada for law enforcement in Alberta, if the federal force is no longer in the province.
That was one of the points brought up by mayor Colleen Powell as she laid out a number of pros and cons in adopting a provincial force, as information for councillors.
“The reason I wanted to discuss the RCMP, I'm not expecting a decision, but I think it's something we have to start putting our minds to, and the next council will probably have to deal with this,” she said. “We have received 28 letters from different communities supporting the RCMP, so that means there's a groundswell in there from all over the province for the RCMP.”
As Powell sees it, there are three options: support the RCMP; support a provincial police force; or work with Athabasca County on creating a regional police service.
“The pros of the Alberta police force are that we set the standards and priorities. We decide the level of service, and there is a possibility of better rural policing, but there's no guarantee there because it depends on the money,” Powell said.
The biggest con, of course, is the money, and where the current federal contribution of $112 million to Alberta’s policing will be made up. A provincial police college would also have to be built, and she noted that RCMP detachments are federal property.
Municipalities have already been adjusting to paying a portion of policing costs for the last two years. That portion will rise to 30 per cent by 2023, and by then, the town and county will already be budgeting for about $800,000 between them.
That said, Powell also commented that RCMP staffing continues to be an issue, especially in rural detachments which often act as a training ground for new recruits, who tend to gain some experience then move on to larger centres. The RCMP as an organization is also riddled with internal issues at its highest levels.
It does have the physical and training infrastructure already in place though; its offers a decent salary, benefits and pension; and supports specialized units that deal with drugs, organized crime, Internet crimes, white collar crimes and more.
Taber, in southern Alberta, with a population near 8,500, has had its own police force for more than 100 years, and has, by most accounts, been very successful. Officials there have been sharing that municipality’s story with other officials from around the province, as the government continues to explore the provincial option.
Powell, Coun. Rob Balay and Coun. John Traynor said they were all quite impressed with the stories they’ve heard about the Taber case study.
“Their budget is in excess of $2.5 million a year, so that's something that we really need to look,” said Balay. “You get the revenues that go along with that, but it was very interesting to consider.”
“They were saying they're very conscious and very aware of the crime and so forth in their area and their citizens are being well-represented, so that's something that you might want to look at,” said Traynor. “If we're going to pay the money anyway, I'm just thinking, maybe that’s something we can’t just dismiss.”
Balay went on to say there are just too many unknowns at this point to take a side.
“Personally, I'm not ready to say one way or the other. We don't know what the provincial police force is actually going to look like, so until that comes up, I would say we will continue with the RCMP,” he said.
During her monthly Town Talk online interview with the Athabasca Advocate two days later, Powell reiterated her hesitation in making a definitive decision on the matter, including a town/county police force.
“We can afford Year 1, I'm not sure we can afford Year 10 when people get experienced and expect raises,” she said. “I don't know, but it's something we should all be thinking about. I know there are problems with crime, and I know there are problems with homelessness … and I don't know if the provincial force would be better, about the same, or worse, I have no idea, but to do it just because we're all Albertans would not be a good reason.”
