A hot discussion topic at the Patricia Street meeting was RCMP presence in problem areas on busy nights.

According to Mayor Richard Ireland, Jasper is unlikely to get any more officers until the town sees gangs and shootings.

The town has lobbied for more officers, but the province prioritizes municipalities based on need and assigns RCMP detachment size accordingly.

“When the 126 communities in greater need than us are served then we’ll be dealt with,” he said. “Yes we have some issues here, but they’re looking at communities with gang communities and drive-by shootings.”

In addition, tourists who swell the population aren’t considered.

“The fact is the province picks detachment size based on population and doesn’t take into account that we’re dealing with an effective population of 20,000 on a busy weekend,” Ireland said.

The local RCMP detachment is in charge of its own scheduling, and Corp. Tony Dolhan said they do the best they can with the support they have.

“It’d be nice to have two police officers doing a foot patrol down Patricia Street if that’s what people want, but unless we have more manpower that’s not going to happen,” he said.