RCMP Union Wants Feds to Clarify Intentions for Policing Contracts

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) crest is seen on a member's uniform in a file photo. Shannon VanRaes/File Photo via Reuters

The RCMP union representing 20,000 Mounties across the country wants Ottawa to clarify its intentions for the future of the national police force and its contract role in policing eight provinces and three territories, as well as directly in 150 municipalities.

Brian Sauvé, National Police Federation’s president and CEO, said the federal government is being vague about the RCMP’s future with contracts set to expire in 2032. He said the union wants the federal government to “immediately clarify the ongoing contract policing assessment and its intentions.”

“Last week, we heard the premiers call for stronger bail reform to improve community safety as part of their concern and commitment related to keeping their province and community safe. They also called on the federal government to clarify their intentions for the future of the RCMP as it relates to Public Safety Canada’s assessment of contract policing,” said Mr. Sauvé, speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on July 18 about bail reform.

“We strongly echo this call for clarity and certainty. The ongoing speculation and vague language from government representatives, the media, and pundits is demoralizing to our members whose careers, lives, and even families have been built around service to their communities, large and small,.”

He said the “negative and protracted speculation” creates uncertainty for possible new hires to the RCMP and also affects current serving members of the national police force.

“Our members are not pawns, they’re people and proud Canadians who care deeply about their jobs, their families, and their communities. They deserve respect and certainty in their future,” he added.

Evolution

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, and RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme have suggested the RCMP could be transformed into an investigative force like the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to a July 17 report in the Star, which quoted unnamed confidential sources.

The report suggests Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Mendicino, and Mr. Duheme want the RCMP to become the “FBI of the North.”

Mr. Medicino said he has a “vision” where the RCMP is “the gold standard when it comes to matters that fall within its subject-matter expertise, like fighting against terrorism, like fighting against cyber [crime], like fighting against ideologically motivated extremism.”

“We have to be focused on upskilling and modernizing all of the tools and the talent so that it sets that gold standard not only in Canada but around the world,” said Mr. Mendicino.

“On that score, I would say that the provinces and territories will have as much to say about what the future of day-to-day policing looks like in their respective jurisdictions as the federal government.”

Mr. Sauvé said the RCMP is “already the FBI of the North.”

“We’re actually the FBI, the DEA, the ATF, Homeland Security, as well as the U.S. Marshals, and the Secret Service.”

According to the union, the justice system needs repair and the union has called on the provinces and territorials to look at their own justice systems and make improvements.

The union leader said the RCMP today is “not the RCMP it was 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, or 30 years ago, or 40 years ago. It is a constantly evolving machine. And our members are constantly evolving with the needs of Canadians.”