Canada's largest police union uses media posts, website to 'educate' voters on marshals service
The union is not trying to lead people to vote for any particular party, its president says
Media posts by the National Police Federation, Canada's largest police union, that urge voters to go to the polls contain a link to its web page where the federation hopes to "educate" people about its concerns over the provincial marshals service.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe re-upped his commitment to fund the service during an election campaign stop on Thursday.
The Saskatchewan NDP has called the service "bogus," and says the party would scrap it if elected.
WATCH | Why Canada's largest police union is weighing in on the Saskatchewan provincial election:
Over the past week, the National Police Federation, which represents 20,000 RCMP officers across Canada, spent more than $3,500 on sponsored Instagram and Facebook advertisements asking people to vote in the provincial elections on Oct. 28.
Those posts contain a link to its website, where the federation says the province should invest the money it has in existing police resources instead of the marshals service.
"Spending taxpayer dollars on an unneeded police service when residents are happy with the Saskatchewan RCMP is not the answer," the website says.
The marshals service, according to the province, is meant to focus on rural crime, gangs and guns, arresting people with outstanding warrants, and assisting RCMP and municipal police when called.
NPF president Brian Sauvé says the union is not trying to lead people to vote for any particular party.
"Are we influencing the voter or are we educating the voter about an issue they might not be aware of?" he said.
"I see it as educating the voter. We might be talking semantics, you might take a different view but, hey, [if] someone wants to file a complaint under the Saskatchewan Election Act, I'm happy to respond."
Elections Saskatchewan says the Election Act does not require third-party advertisers to register in the province.
The website, along with a voting guide, also lists responses from both the parties to a questionnaire about public safety topics, including policing, crime prevention and emergency response.
The NPF is pushing people to vote in the upcoming elections through social media posts and its Saskatchewan website, Our Saskatchewan RCMP, where it calls the service a project with "no plan, no consultation, and no support."
Sauvé said it's a position they've held since before the NDP voiced its concerns against it.
"Should a political party align with our position, that is their decision. It's not something where the NPF is aligning with a political party's position," he said.
In a media briefing Thursday, Sask. Party Leader Scott Moe said the marshal service is supposed to work with the province's RCMP — not with NPF.
"Public sector union, the NPF, is going to advocate on behalf of what they feel will, essentially, make for more officers and union dues, and let's be that callous about it," Moe said.
In a Friday release, the NDP called Moe's statement insulting to frontline officers.
The RCMP declined to comment, saying it would want to maintain impartiality during the election period.
The project has received $14 million so far and is expected to cost $20 million a year once fully operational. The province estimates the service will be operational by 2026.
Moe said the marshals service will not take away resources from the RCMP.
According to the Saskatchewan RCMP's crime stats report, the province has 201 officers per 100,000 people — higher than the national average of 178, according to Statistics Canada.
Despite that, Saskatchewan still records the most Criminal Code incidents per police officer among provinces.
In June the government said renovations to the service's district headquarters in Prince Albert were "well underway." According to that update, the service has also developed the branding for its logo, vehicles, badges and uniforms.
Earlier this year, nearly 90 municipalities joined the union in calling on the province to pause the service.
Bill Huber, acting president of the marshals service, said he respects the opposing municipalities, but there's a "clear mandate" from 200 other members offering support to the service.
"We have to listen to our members — what their wishes are — and we're not in a position right now to oppose the marshal service," he said.
Beck says the NDP wouild cut the marshals service and re-invest the $20 million it would cost in hiring more than 200 front-line police officers and mental health and addictions supports.
"Moe wasted millions on creating a marshal's service that does nothing to improve public safety," Sask. NDP Leader Carla Beck said in a media release Thursday.
Huber said he isn't on board with NDP's plan of scrapping the service.
"When I first heard of that, I wasn't real happy and I don't think our members would be either," he said.
Moe hasn't announced hiring new officers as part of his election campaign yet.
Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan's department of political studies, says the nature of the debate could pose a way for the parties to distinguish themselves.
He said unions, such as the NPF, act like advocacy groups during an election when they defend one side or the other.
"It's an issue that I think you look for the median voters, swing voters," he said. "I don't know that it wins over a ton of voters, but it kind of fits with, I think, a concern that I suspect a lot of voters have."
Westlake said the service could possibly be Sask. Party's proposition to build a strong provincial identity by having enforcement officers exclusively contracted by the province.
"Those debates, I think, do tend to get controversial because they speak to people's sense of provincial identity and they can tap into these questions around western and Saskatchewan identity," he said.
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