N.S. mayors concerned province 'pushing' municipal police out as government expands RCMP role

Some Nova Scotia mayors of municipalities with their own police forces are concerned the province's move to expand the RCMP's role will push out municipal departments, leading to worse service and less local control.

Justice Minister Becky Druhan said Nova Scotia will move to a provincial policing model with the RCMP providing both local and specialized services for the province, but will allow municipalities to keep their own forces if they can meet higher standards. Some of those standards include access to underwater recovery teams or emergency response teams.

Mayor David Mitchell of the Town of Bridgewater, which has its own police force, said he doesn't understand how the PC government came to this conclusion when municipal services are cheaper and have shown faster response times with more local visibility than the RCMP.

WATCH | Mayors in Nova Scotia question provincial plans to expand the RCMP 

"I'm confused and again need clarification from the minister on how the report that says the RCMP rural model isn't working is now going to be the model that is pushed on municipalities," Mitchell said Thursday.

"I see this as kind of pushing municipal policing out, and moving people to the RCMP."

Druhan announced the changes Wednesday following an extensive review into Nova Scotia's policing structure. It was carried out by Deloitte and informed by a survey of 7,000 Nova Scotians, as well as an advisory panel made up of municipal police, RCMP and people from diverse communities.

The report found that the current structure was not working, with "many respondents" from rural and Indigenous communities saying they were unhappy with RCMP performance. They raised concerns around slow response times, lack of visible police presence, and how the Mounties "are not integrated into the community."

The review suggested Nova Scotia start with the RCMP for the provincial policing model, and later decide if creating a provincially run police service would be better. Current examples include the Ontario Provincial Police.

Druhan said the province will invest more to ensure proper staffing levels are met across Nova Scotia, but Mitchell said he's concerned about the Mounties' ability to produce enough people when they are "already understaffed and stretched very thin."

Although the report noted that RCMP are often asked to assist municipal forces with special services, Mitchell said it missed the fact that municipal forces also are asked to help the Mounties in many cases.

"I kind of equate it to the report being like a trial that only hears from the prosecution and doesn't need to hear from the defence," Mitchell said. 

He said he has spoken to most of the mayors using the 10 municipal police forces, who share his concerns about getting lower service levels with the RCMP.

Kentville Mayor Andrew Zebian said he's worried about the "hefty price" that would come if the town tried to boost its 22-person department to meet the standards.