Higgs government rules out provincial police force to replace RCMP

The Higgs government has ruled out creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP.

Public Safety Minister Kris Austin told a committee of the legislature Thursday morning that there's no money in his budget this year to set up such a force because the province has opted against it.

"A provincial police force is really not feasible, simply because of the costs associated with it [and] the amount of time it would take to implement such a division, such a force," he said.

He later told reporters the transition to a provincial force might have taken a decade and the cost would have been "extremely high," though he didn't have a dollar figure.

"It would be a huge project, and I'm not convinced that the public would get the best bang for their buck," he said.

The RCMP now provides provincial policing under a 20-year contract in areas of the province where there is no municipal police force.

Municipalities are required to pay part of the cost, and some communities have complained in recent years that they don't feel they've been getting police coverage in line with what they're spending.

Austin said rather than replace the RCMP, his department will continue working on how its own enforcement officers, Mounties and municipal police can work together more effectively to provide better service.

He also said he's open to working with municipalities that are unhappy with the federal force and that opt to create their own forces. 

"These are all discussions we're willing to have. At the end of the day it's got to be feasible. The standards have to be there. We want good policing." 

Liberal public safety critic Jacques LeBlanc said he was "kind of surprised to hear the minister say it's not feasible.… We all knew that."

He pointed out that Austin raised questions about adequate RCMP staffing in rural areas when he was the leader of the People's Alliance party, before he joined the Progressive Conservative government a year ago. 

"It's like putting your foot in your mouth," LeBlanc said.

Austin acknowledged his previous position during the committee session.

"That's certainly something that I have, in previous years, obviously wanted to know more about. So now I know more about it."

Last year residents of McAdam complained at a public meeting that the RCMP were taking too long to respond to calls.

The force later stepped up their presence in the village, but local businessman Don Doherty says it hasn't helped and crime remains a problem. 

Switching from the RCMP to a provincial force wouldn't make any difference as long as federal policies and laws make it hard for police and prosecutors to arrest people or secure long prison sentences, he said.

"It's impossible to lay charges with the way the laws are," said Doherty.

"It needs to be fixed at the federal level, not the provincial level. A provincial police force is not going to change anything anyway." 

In December 2021, then-minister Ted Flemming called a provincial police force "something we should take a hard look at" because of complaints about inadequate RCMP services, especially in rural areas.

Flemming called it a complex issue and said the province would be giving up the one third of police funding that the federal government covers when the RCMP polices municipalities.

The province has a 20-year contract with the RCMP for policing most of the province that will end in 2032. 

The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick called for a review of policing services in 2021 and the provincial government's white paper on local government reform promised such a review.

Municipalities complained about the rising cost of RCMP policing after officers were unionized, as well as a lack of local control and accountability.

The province will spend $125 million on its policing contract with the RCMP this year, an increase of around $24 million this year.

That increase, in part, reflects the province absorbing the increase to policing costs so municipalities don't have to pay for it, Austin said. 

"As a provincial government, we said we're not going to download that cost. That cost is something we're going to bear." 

Green MLA Megan Mitton said the province should consider other ways to support local communities, such as with mobile crisis services and social workers. 

"What else is needed in our communities?" she said. "These are policy decisions, and I don't always think we're on the right track with this government." 

But Doherty said communities need more police officers and tougher laws.

"It is not a social problem. It is a behavioural problem and the only way to correct it is with stiffer sentences."