Grande Prairie, Alta., to establish municipal police service, phase out RCMP

Grande Prairie, Alta., is one step closer to establishing a municipal police service that would take over from the RCMP.

City council voted 8-1 to establish a city police service and to end its contract with Canada's national police service during a public meeting that began Monday afternoon and ended shortly after midnight.  

RCMP will remain in the northwestern Alberta city while officers with the Grande Prairie Municipal Police Service are phased in over the next five years. 

Grande Prairie's decision comes at a time when the provincial government is looking at the idea of doing away with its RCMP service contract in favour of a provincial police force. The province held engagement sessions in 2021 and 2022 but no final decisions have been made.

'A positive path,' minister says

Mike Ellis, Alberta's minister of public safety and emergency services, said Grande Prairie city council completed a thorough review before Monday's vote, and other municipalities should be following suit.

The province is already preparing to entertain proposals from communities across the province looking to make the switch, he said.

"This about empowering the municipalities," Ellis told reporters at the legislature Tuesday. 

"We've had probably about a dozen municipalities that have reached out to us to look at doing their own independent study to see what is best for them and their constituents."

Ellis said Grande Prairie has learned from the experience of council in Surrey, B.C., where a plan to ditch the RCMP has proved costly and contentious.

Late last year, Surrey city council voted to keep the RCMP and ultimately end the years-long switch to a new municipal police force after millions of dollars had been spent on the change. 

"They essentially put the cart before the horse on that," Ellis said. "So there were lessons learned on that and it looks like Grande Prairie is headed down a positive path that is best for their community."

RCMP 'not the model that serves us,' says mayor

Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton said having a city police service will increase local oversight, cut down on bureaucracy, reduce policing costs and aid with officer retention and recruitment.

RCMP have policed Grande Prairie since 1937. The city of 68,000 people is 450 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

The union representing RCMP opposes the change, characterizing the transition as politically motivated and ill-informed of the true cost to taxpayers. 

"Council does not take this decision lightly," Clayton told council. 

"This is not a slight on any service that we've been provided with the RCMP for the many years we've been provided it. 

"It's simply about finding the best service model for a community we care deeply about." 

Councillor Chris Thiessen, who cast the sole vote against the motion, urged council to delay a decision and give residents and council more time to understand the implications of the change. 

Clayton said the change has been under review for years and is needed to strengthen safety in Grande Prairie and improve communication between police and local government. 

"It's just not the model that serves us," she said of the RCMP. "There has been example after example where the RCMP machine cannot be adaptive to community needs."

To start the transition, the city needs ministerial approval to form a municipal police service and change community policing methods.

Transitioning from the RCMP to a municipal police service is expected to cost $19 million. The province has committed to transitional funding. In February, Ellis announced the province would provide $9.7 million over two years.

Following Monday's vote, council will also need to pass a bylaw to establish a police commission and notify the federal government of its intention to transition away from the RCMP. It will provide notice by March 31.

Grande Prairie has been exploring the idea of a municipal police service since 2021. The city's review of the proposed swap included an analysis of current enforcement methods and public consultation. 

Last September, the city commissioned MNP, paying the organization $250,000 to prepare a viability and transition study.

The MNP report indicated Grande Prairie leaders are worried about the long-term viability of having the RCMP police larger municipalities, recruitment issues, the rising cost of RCMP's services and navigating the national force's bureaucracy

Although the Grande Prairie RCMP has the budget for 110 police officers, it hasn't been fully staffed for the past five years, the report said.

Motion to postpone 

Monday's council meeting saw a lengthy question period between council and representatives from the National Police Federation, Alberta RCMP and Grande Prairie RCMP. 

In a statement Tuesday, Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, said the change is being approved without proper consultation or adequate investigation of the changes in service. 

Residents should expect the final cost will be considerably higher than $19 million, Sauvé said. 

"The majority council decision to transition away from the Grande Prairie RCMP has been entirely politically motivated, when politics have no place in policing decisions," he said. 

"This transition has been widely promoted and presented through rose-coloured glasses with little to no true consideration of overall transition costs, recruitment and retention, training, or technology and equipment." 

The union, he said, will now focus on ensuring members are supported through the transition and council is held accountable for its commitment to maintain public safety. 

In a statement Tuesday, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said he and his members are disappointed by council's decision but remain committed to serving Grande Prairie residents during the transition period. 

During a delegation to council before the vote was tabled, Zablocki acknowledged that staff retention has been a challenge in Grande Prairie, including in the higher levels of local command. 

He also acknowledged backlogs in the criminal justice system that need to be addressed, and said the RCMP need to be more nimble and proactive in responding to ever-evolving community safety concerns.

He said that despite the challenges around retention, the RCMP provides a policing service "like no other." The national force has the benefit of  high levels of policing resources, specialized training and national cooperation among officers and investigators, he said.

"If there's another unfortunate event or or a national natural disaster in a community… we bring critical mass resources to those types of types of situations," Zablocki said.

"We're also seamless in the gathering and and transfer and use of intelligence … that seamless flow of intelligence is very important in keeping Canadians safe."