The organization representing Canada's RCMP officers said the Alberta government's push to give sheriffs a bigger policing role amounts to creating a provincial police force.
“We are deeply concerned that the Government of Alberta is once again pushing forward with a costly, unproven provincial police model, this time under a new name, without transparency, consultation, or a clear financial plan," said Brian Sauvé, president and CEO of the National Police Federation (NPF), which represents Canada's 20,000 RCMP officers in Canada and internationally.
Sauvé said the province is pursuing its new Independent Police Agency Service rather than invest in the 3,500 RCMP officers who already serve and protect most of Alberta's communities and rural areas.
When the province was looking at creating a provincial police force, the start-up costs were estimated at $372 million, plus annual operating costs of $164 million, he said. Going to provincial police would also mean losing $170 million in annual federal funding.
With the province project a $5 billion budget shortfall "it is fiscally irresponsible to pursue a politicized project that undertakes a major restructuring of public safety without a detailed cost analysis or public mandate," says Sauvé in a statement released on Wednesday.
NPF regional director Kevin Halwa, who is based in central Alberta, said many Alberta officers feel unappreciated by their own government.
"You can only put up with it for so long before it goes from annoying to insulting and we're now in the insulting category," said Halwa, who joined the RCMP in 1997 and has served in Sylvan Lake and Red Deer.
"Despite all that our members continue to go to work day after day after day, putting their lives on the line for the public and do a great job for the public."
Halwa said besides providing no cost breakdowns on its policing plans, the government has been forging ahead with little or no consultation.
On Monday, Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis tabled a bill empowering the province to create a police Crown agency, a move widely seen as an effort to create a provincial police-like model.
About 600 sheriffs could receive extra training to perform duties similar to existing RCMP or municipal officers. Alberta Sheriffs employs about 1,200 people.
Ellis provided no information on the cost of creating the new agency or the timeline.
NPF estimated the province's recent plan could cost in the range of $80 million, not counting the cost of dispatch systems, legal services, specialized equipment and vehicles, oversight, and administrative support.
"Every dollar spent on restructuring is a dollar taken from frontline services like crime prevention, enforcement, and victim support. It’s time the government listened to Albertans and invested in enhancing – not replacing – the Alberta RCMP.”
Sauvé also said the government is forging ahead with its plans despite a lack of support from Albertans. A June 2024 Pollara Strategic Insights poll found 77 per cent of Albertans in RCMP-served communities remain satisfied with the policing services they receive and 86 per cent want to keep the RCMP.
Nearly nine out of 10 said they wanted a detailed accounting of the costs and impacts before any changes are made.
The union representing Alberta sheriffs said its members deserve more pay and better working conditions if they are going to take on more duties.
“It is good to see that Bill 49 recognizes the skills that they bring to the table, but increasing the scope of their work must come with appropriate improvements to pay and benefits,” said AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey in a statement.
“Clearly, the government is planning to take over much of the work currently done by the RCMP. If it wants this new police force to succeed, the first step must be to create the conditions that will allow it to recruit and retain officers.”
Borodey said Ellis has said the RCMP is having trouble filling its ranks in Alberta.
“The Alberta government won’t do any better if it insists on not paying sheriffs and new hires adequately for the scope of work they do. Their tasks require more training and the work exposes officers to more dangers,” says Borodey.
