Sask. One Step Closer to Forming Marshals Service for Rural Policing

Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Christine Tell speaks to the media in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Oct. 27, 2021. (Michael Bell/The Canadian Press)

The Saskatchewan government has signed an order in council that brings the province closer to establishing a new provincial police force.

The order places responsibility for overseeing the new Saskatchewan Marshals Service with the province’s deputy minister instead of a board, at least until the marshals are operational in 2026.

Christine Tell, the province’s minister of corrections, policy, and public safety, will be tasked with forming a 70-officer unit that will be responsible for policing mostly rural and remote areas, particularly those with high crime rates.

The marshals will be armed, but it has not yet been established if they will be in uniform. They will be based in Prince Albert and move to areas of the province where they are needed. Ms. Tell said they will have “broad” duties.

“We’re not going to be prescriptive,” she told The Canadian Press.

Ms. Tell said the marshals won’t have a board until boots hit the ground, because the department still needs to set up the structure of the marshals’ service and hire a chief.

“What that looks like is still under development,” Ms. Tell said. “But in the interim, the deputy minister is the interim board as we get this thing developed.”

“It is not a political function. It’s an operational function that will assist when the chief marshal is hired, assists the chief marshal in getting all of that infrastructure in place.”

The budget for setup is estimated at $7 million for 2023, and once the service is fully operational, it will have an estimated operating budget of $20 million annually.

The province announced in a Nov. 3 news release that it would develop a new Saskatchewan Marshals Service (SMS) and expand the Crime Reduction Team (CRT) and Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team (WEST).

The SMS will conduct proactive investigations and support RCMP and assist other law enforcement groups as required. They will apprehend offenders with outstanding arrest warrants and investigate farming-related offenses like theft and trespassing on private property.

“We know there are areas in Saskatchewan that need more visible, active policing,” Ms. Tell said. “The SMS will provide that, and work with RCMP and municipal police to strengthen law enforcement across the entire province.”

The RCMP will remain the provincial police service of jurisdiction, the government indicated.

Earlier this year, then federal minister of emergency preparedness Bill Blair said other jurisdictions had successfully used marshals or sheriffs.

“We’ve seen this in some other jurisdictions where, for example, they have a sheriffs program in Alberta and there are even community safety officers working in First Nations across the country. I think it’s entirely appropriate,” he said on March 15.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.