National security is at risk if RCMP's federal policing problems aren't fixed, committee warns

The federal government urgently needs to change how the RCMP's federal policing wing functions or risk seeing national security files fall through the cracks, says a special intelligence and security committee.

"National security is at risk. The security of Canadians is at risk." said Liberal MP David McGuinty, chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

"What's at risk is missing something."

The committee, often referred to as NSICOP, tabled a report Tuesday examining the RCMP's federal mandate, which includes foreign interference, violent extremism and terrorism, organized crime and financial crime. 

The committee concluded that federal policing is not "as effective, efficient, flexible or accountable as it needs to be to protect Canada and Canadians from the most significant national security and criminal threats." 

NSICOP's 91-page report says the RCMP's federal mandate is hindered by a number of resource issues, including the force's focus on boots-on-the-ground policing. The RCMP is under contract as the provincial police service in most provinces. It's also the police force in150 municipalities, all three territories and more than 600 Indigenous communities. 

The special committee said the dual mandate creates "undesirable effects."

"We're certainly calling on the federal government to to examine the relationship between contract policing and federal policing inside the organization," said McGuinty

The committee, made up of MPs from the four recognized parties and senators, found that while federal policing resources may be used to support contract policing, resources seldom flow the other way.

In their report, they blame the situation in part on "weak governance."

NSICOP found that, for example, the RCMP's federal policing side doesn't always have a say in setting national policing priorities.

"Divisions retain significant discretion in the federal policing prioritization process, undermining the ability of the federal policing program to track ongoing investigations and expenditures, or to redirect resources to higher priorities," said the report.

The RCMP's federal policing side is also losing members to contract policing, the report shows.

According to the report, federal policing has lost 600 regular members over the past nine years and was operating with a 13 per cent vacancy rate among regular members in the 2022-23 fiscal year.