Jason Van Rassel (Calgary Herald) – Alberta’s new 20-year contract with the RCMP includes provisions designed to ensure the police force is more accountable to the provincial government.
An independent audit commissioned by the government prior to contract negotiations determined the RCMP was delivering cost-effective policing, but recommended more robust measures to ensure the force meets its obligations.
The province announced last week it has approved a contract that will keep the RCMP in Alberta until 2032.
Solicitor General Frank Oberle said the tentative deal — which requires federal approval — includes many of the concessions recommended by audit firm KPMG in its 2007 study.
“Alberta did a pretty good job of negotiating what was in that KPMG report,” Solicitor General Frank Oberle said.
Although the precise terms of the new contract remain under wraps until it’s approved by Ottawa, the province said it includes provisions ensuring the RCMP’s priorities and objectives are set by Alberta and places added emphasis on planning and sharing information between the parties.
The RCMP has provided policing in rural Alberta and several municipalities since 1932, when the Great Depression prompted the government of the day to disband the Alberta Provincial Police.
The KPMG report didn’t examine the benefits of re-establishing an Alberta police force, but said financial terms of the current RCMP contract — which expires in 2012 — were “fair and reasonable,” and the Mounties were meeting their obligations.
“RCMP provincial policing plans reflect strategic directions and objectives of the ministry,” said the report, obtained by the Herald through provincial access-to-information legislation.
“RCMP planned initiatives and programs were also determined to be responsive to community needs.”
The provincial policing contract is a cost-sharing arrangement between the province and Ottawa, with Alberta paying 70 per cent of the RCMP’s costs and the federal government covering the remainder.
The province’s share this year is $203 million, and goes toward the presence of 1,480 officers throughout Alberta.
Municipalities with populations greater than 5,000 contract can directly with the RCMP and aren’t covered by the pact.
The KPMG study examined the RCMP between 2003 and 2006 and estimated the average annual cost for an RCMP officer in Alberta was $155,800.
While that figure was in line with RCMP figures in other provinces, the KPMG study noted the Ontario Provincial Police and the Surete du Quebec had lower costs per officer: $148,200 and $138,000 respectively.
“The difference . . . appears largely attributable to higher non-salary costs, consisting of transportation and communication, supplies and equipment, and services,” the said, with an added recommendation to keep a closer eye on those expenses.
While the scrutiny is wise, Mount Royal University criminologist Doug King said weighing the RCMP’s costs with long-established provincial police forces in Ontario and Quebec is an “apples and oranges” comparison.
A truer indication of the RCMP’s value would be comparing the current cost versus replacing the Mounties.
“That, I guarantee you, would be higher,” King said.
The province studied the idea of replacing the RCMP in 2003 and dismissed it as too expensive.
Oberle acknowledged the 30 per cent subsidy from Ottawa for the RCMP makes an Alberta police force impractical. “That, right there, effectively rules out fielding our own provincial police force,” he said.
Although the cost-sharing arrangement in the new contract is unchanged, the province is increasing its investment in the RCMP in other ways.
Over the lifespan of the new deal, Alberta will acquire a 70 per cent ownership stake of all RCMP facilities in the province, Oberle said.
The Herald obtained the KPMG study this month — nearly four years after the provincial solicitor general refused an access-to-information request for the document.
The Herald appealed the decision and in January the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered the solicitor general to release portions of the report.
The government complied, and exceeded the terms of the order by releasing the entire document — albeit after it finished negotiations with the RCMP.
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