CANMORE – The Town of Canmore has lent its name to a growing list of Alberta municipalities calling on the province to stop the creation of a provincial police service.
Canmore council voted unanimously to support the decision, which came from a March 28 letter from the National Police Federation.
The letter outlines the municipality’s preference for maintaining the RCMP and how the Alberta government’s lack of transparency in the process has “lost the trust of its constituents”.
“I’m really struggling as an elected official representing Canmore where the win is for the provincial government on this,” said Coun. Joanna McCallum. “I don’t see a financial benefit, I don’t see an organizational benefit and I don’t see a social benefit.”
McCallum noted since the idea was first introduced by the province, Alberta Municipalities – which advocates the provincial and federal governments on behalf of the province’s municipalities – has yet to get any level of answer from the UCP government on the positives or negatives of the proposed force.
Coun. Jeff Mah added he only sees “extended costs” to the “provincial pet project” and no benefits for the community.
The potential of a provincial police service has been mired in controversy, lack of transparency and costs that would see the province pay more than it already does to the RCMP.
A poll completed by the National Police Federation (NPF) found 84 per cent of respondents preferred the RCMP and the province should focus its attention on the root causes of crime and helping social services.
“As the Government of Alberta continues to consult and push the idea of a new and expensive police service forward, now is the time for all impacted stakeholders to come together to tell the government that the proposed money would be better invested into critical services to address under resourcing, staffing shortages and the lack of social support programs,” said Colin Buschman, the western government relations advisor for the NPF, in the letter.
The province covers about $500 million in RCMP costs each year and the federal government chips in roughly $170 million as part of a cost-sharing agreement.
Municipalities then pay a cost that is dependent on the size of the community and local detachment.
While Premier Jason Kenney has stated a provincial police force wouldn’t cost municipalities more than they’re paying, the math hasn’t lined up as an Alberta-only force would have costs skyrocket to $735 million each year and the federal government would no longer be on the hook to contribute funds.
The province completed a transition study in 2021, which showed a one-time transition cost of $366 million over a six-year period. An extra $139 million in additional policing costs would also be seen each year for an anticipated cost of $1.2 billion over six years.
In Canmore, there is a total of 28 staff, including 19 municipally funded officers and four covered by the province.
In March, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta voted to support the RCMP instead of possibly bringing in a provincial police force.
The NDP’s critic for municipal affairs Joe Ceci and critic for justice Irfan Sabir have also criticized the provincial police force.
“Municipal leaders from across the province have made it abundantly clear that they also oppose this idea,” Ceci said in a media release on April 5.
The federal government and NPF came to a collective bargaining agreement that will see RCMP officers across the country have a retroactive pay increase at some point this year.
The deal will see municipalities share a burden of the financial change, which for the Town of Canmore will likely mean about an extra $1 million in police costs each year.
The Town has joined a chorus of municipalities in having the Federation of Canadian Municipalities push the federal government to cover the retroactive pay. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association has also helped municipalities in a letter writing campaign to help for federal financing.
Over the span of six years, the contract will see a 23.7 per cent jump in salary costs for police officers.
According to the NPF, there are roughly 3,500 RCMP officers in Alberta in 117 detachments. It estimates they respond to more than 800,000 service calls each year.
In 2021, the policing budget for Canmore was $2.7 million and increased to $3.3 million. The main aspect of this was Statistics Canada 2021 census data having Canmore surpass the 15,000 population, which is used to split policing costs between a municipality and the province.
If a municipality is 15,000 people or less, the cost split is 70 per cent by the community and 30 per cent by the province. When a Town rises above 15,000 people, they pick up 90 per cent of the costs and the province 10 per cent.
“We have a good working relationship with our detachment and they serve our community well,” Coun. Jeff Hilstaf said. “It’s a little unfortunate the federal government has decided to download a bunch of charges on us, but that’s something else to deal with at another time. I don’t see, at this moment, a good reason to sign this letter.”
