Western Canada: Alberta report shows a provincial police force would cost more but improve service

Good morning. It’s James Keller in Calgary.

When Alberta politicians talk about ways to give the province greater control over its affairs, the prospect of a provincial police force is almost always part of the conversation.

The idea was debated – and ultimately rejected – by the Progressive Conservative government of the mid-1990s.

The infamous “firewall” letter to Ralph Klein in 2001, signed by six prominent conservatives including Stephen Harper (then president of the National Citizens’ Coalition), described it as a no-brainer: “Like the other major provinces of Ontario and Quebec, we should have our own provincial police force. We have no doubt that Alberta can run a more efficient and effective police force than Ottawa can – one that will not be misused as a laboratory for experiments in social engineering.”

A legislature committee on “Strengthening Alberta’s Role in Confederation” produced a report in 2004 that said the government should review the idea, but instead the province signed another agreement with the RCMP several years later.

Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party government revived the idea once again, including it among the policies up for review by his “fair deal” panel, which was tasked with finding ways to wrestle more autonomy from Ottawa. The panel’s final report endorsed the idea, prompting the government to ask PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, to examine whether that would be feasible.

PwC’s report was released on Friday, concluding that a provincial force could improve service for rural and Indigenous communities, increase local accountability and civilian oversight, and allow for better integration of services such as social workers and mental-health teams.

Justice Minister Kaycee Madu said the government hasn’t made a decision, but heralded the report as evidence that a provincial police force could improve service while also being “cost effective.” But it’s clear from the report that the switch to an Alberta Provincial Police would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to set up while also being more expensive for the province to operate.

The PwC report says the startup costs of replacing the RCMP with a new police force would be $366-million to $371-million over six years.

It also looked at the potential operating cost and compared it with what the RCMP costs right now.

That comparison shows a provincial force could be slightly cheaper to operate overall than the RCMP – as low as $734-million, compared with $783-million for the RCMP – but that comparison doesn’t take into account the fact that the federal government subsidizes the cost of using the Mounties by as much as 30 per cent.

If Alberta switched, the government would also need to make up nearly $200-million that is currently covered by Ottawa, meaning the actual cost to the Alberta government would be higher with a provincial force than what the province pays right now.

Despite that reality, Mr. Madu repeatedly insisted during a news conference on Friday that a provincial police force would cost about the same or be cheaper. He also promised that local governments that have contracts with the RCMP would not pay any more.

He said not including the federal subsidy was an attempt to compare “apples to apples” in terms of the total cost of operating a police force. He brushed aside multiple questions about how the province would cover the loss of the federal RCMP subsidy.

However, he did argue that the debate about a provincial force is about more than just cost, and he noted that Ontario and Quebec also have their own police forces. Newfoundland and Labrador also has the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

Mr. Madu said switching to a provincial police force is in the province’s best interests.

Other places in Canada have recently looked at getting rid of the RCMP, with differing results. In Red Deer, city council studied replacing the RCMP with a municipal force but ultimately concluded it would be too costly.

In Surrey, B.C., Doug McCallum returned as mayor in 2018 on a promise to replace the RCMP with a municipal force. The B.C. government greenlit the city’s plan last year. Surrey estimates it will cost more than the RCMP.

The Surrey police force is currently hiring officers, though the process has been long and contentious. Just last month, Mr. McCallum alleged he was accosted by pro-RCMP demonstrators, one of whom he claimed ran over his foot with a vehicle.

Alberta has had a provincial force before. The Alberta Provincial Police operated until 1931, when the RCMP took over.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.