Northern Alberta hamlet extends state of local emergency, demands action to curb crime

Government officials, community representatives and RCMP members held a closed-door meeting Wednesday to address the safety issues they said have been plaguing the northern Alberta hamlet of Calling Lake for six months. 

The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 declared a state of local emergency in Calling Lake earlier this month following an increase in residential break-ins and property theft.

"We had some real positive talk, some of the initiatives that we're pushing forward, some of the dollars that [are] looking like it's going to be committed by the province, as well as the RCMP," Reeve Marcel Auger said in an interview. 

Despite that development, Auger said the community is still not in a position to lift the state of emergency as he told community leaders that he wants to see the establishment of an RCMP detachment to tackle issues such as gun violence and other criminal activity. 

"There was talk about when people call 911, and occasionally they don't get a callback, or the response time is still up to two or three hours, and that's not acceptable," Auger said. 

"You do that in any other community, in other any other urban setting, and that wouldn't happen. And just because we're in northern Alberta, and we're smaller communities doesn't mean we should get less service than the rest of the province get."

Calling Lake, about 200 kilometres north of Edmonton, has about 700 residents year-round, though the population can grow to 3,000 during the summer. The nearest RCMP detachment is in Athabasca, about 60 kilometres south.

Robert Morrison has lived in the community for 15 years and has experienced two break-ins, resulting in about $4,000 in damages to his family's property.

Chief Supt. Gary Graham, commander of the RCMP's eastern Alberta district, attended the meeting and said the force would assess and liaise with sheriffs to determine possible action. 

"It's not really as simple as we just call up a whole bunch of resources here," Graham said.

"There is some science that's involved. We look at the crime severity index, we look at the population, we look at the workload and the task loads of the officers, all of this is strategically looked at." 

Graham said that during the meeting there was a discussion regarding how authorities found statistics for violent crime in the Calling Lake area aren't showing any significant increases. 

"But community members are saying what they're experiencing and how they feel about things in the community doesn't match that." He noted that the meeting looked at whether residents are underreporting incidents due to insurance concerns.

"They don't want to risk that. Some of it is they feel intimidated, which goes to the community safety piece. Some of it is they just don't think anything will be done about it."

Graham said the force is exploring potentially working with the municipal district to explore the logistics of 24/7 patrols.

'A boiling point' 

Scott Sinclair, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake, said the meeting was called because it seemed residents had hit "a boiling point."

Sinclair said there is a commitment by Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services to deploy sheriffs, and that it will be up to the RCMP to co-ordinate on a jurisdictional level. 

He said that the issue has multiple aspects and noted the role of facilities like homeless shelters. 

Linda Gladue has lived in the community for decades and said it is a travesty that Calling Lake is again dealing with violence. 

"There is an emergency, but it's the wrong kind of emergency," Gladue said. She said leadership is not addressing systemic issues effectively. 

"They're looking at crime, but they are not focusing on the causes of crime," she said.

Gladue expressed frustration that problems such as homelessness, addictions and mental health are not adequately addressed.

"We can have cops all over the community, and what good is that going to do?"