Alberta Municipalities reject provincial police force model; consultations continue

There's growing opposition among municipal leaders to the idea of swapping the RCMP for a provincial police force in Alberta.

At a recent gathering of local leaders, Alberta Municipalities members voted in opposition to the UCP government’s provincial police service proposal.

Alberta Municipalities’ Cathy Heron said Thursday it signalled “a resounding, ‘We do not approve of the current proposed model.'”

Premier Jason Kenney didn’t address the vote at the Spring Municipal Leaders’ Caucus but did note in a later news conference he believes there’s promise in a government-commissioned report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“I think that rural Albertans… deserve the same kind of community policing that Edmontonians and Calgarians benefit from with their own local police services,” he said.

“We think there’s a lot of merit to this idea.”

It would cost Alberta hundreds of millions of dollars more to set up and run a provincial police force, but it ultimately could provide more cost-effective law enforcement, the report says.

A transition would take up to six years to complete.

Kenney said in round two of consultations on the prospect, discussions with municipal leaders continue.