The provincial government tabled new legislation today that paves the way for the creation of a new provincial police agency, although the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Mike Ellis, says the government has no immediate plans to replace the RCMP.
The legislation, once passed, “would update current policing legislation to establish a new organization that would work alongside police services across the province,” reads a government release published this afternoon. “These changes will improve the government’s ability to respond to communities’ requests for additional law enforcement support through a new agency that can operate seamlessly alongside local police in the policing environment.”
“The new agency would be operationally independent from the government, as all Alberta’s police services are now.”
At a press conference on March 13, Ellis said that the new police agency, which he refrained from calling a provincial police force, will take over the duties of the Alberta Sheriffs Branch, however, existing sheriffs will need to complete further training before working for the new agency as sheriffs are currently trained to the same level as municipal peace officers, rather than police officers.
“The peace officer, their powers are limited in scope by really the powers that are granted to them by essentially the Minister of Public Safety, which happens to be me,” Ellis said. “The police officer has the full scope of local bylaws, provincial acts and of course the Criminal Code, so again, peace officers are somewhat limited in their powers, [and] the police officer, for lack of better word, is not limited in their powers.”
Ellis also said that the new legislation involves the creation of a civilian oversight board for the new agency, similar to the Edmonton and Calgary Police Commissions, which will be responsible for managing police accountability.
“This legislation is about meeting the changing public safety needs of our communities, anticipating the future needs, and fulfilling the public's evolving expectations concerning accountability,” Ellis said. “We're trying to augment and support the current police services that we have here in the province, not just the RCMP but even our local municipal police services.”
Asked by reporters if establishing this new police agency lays the groundwork for having a police force capable of replacing the RCMP, Ellis said the government needs to be “prepared for every scenario.”
“If Public Safety Canada — [the federal department that enters into policing contracts with municipalities for RCMP services] — all of a sudden comes and says, ‘You know what? We've listened to the operating committee, we've analyzed the situation, we may not be interested in continuing with contract policing anymore in the future,’ and then what? You're going to question me and say ‘Minister, why didn't you prepare for this? Why weren't you preparing for this possible scenario?,’” Ellis said.
“They're having trouble from a hiring perspective,” Ellis said of the RCMP, adding that he's heard from municipalities in Alberta and from other provincial governments that the RCMP are struggling to maintain staffing levels for effective policing. “The RCMP just do not have enough human beings to police Canada, regardless of the amount of money that we give them.”
“That's a challenge, I get that, but I can't wait for them to just continue to try to figure stuff out,” he said.
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“As I've said many times before when someone calls 911 I expect someone to show up to the call regardless of the uniform that they wear,” Ellis said on Wednesday.
According to Public Safety Canada's website, the department has 166 contracts for police services with municipalities and provincial and territorial governments across the country, all of which will expire in 2032.
Former federal Public Safety Minister, Marco Mendicino, started a review of RCMP's contract policing agreements last year, and the review is ongoing under new Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, however, there is no expected completion date.
Ellis was unable to provide a timeline for when the new police agency will be established or when officers will be hired, but he did say that it will be up to the new agency's civilian oversight board to handle those details.
