ALBERTA PAROLE BOARD? PROVINCIAL POLICE NEXT?
Alberta Sheriffs Branch could certainly be the nucleus of a future Alberta force
“More Alberta, less Ottawa,” said Premier Jason Kenney as he announced a bill to create an Alberta Parole Board.
Some might see this as a UCP sop to separatist sentiment. The argument flops on the fact that Ontario has had its own parole board for years.
So has Quebec, which is expert at running its affairs while enjoying all the benefits of Canada.
That pretty much describes the status Kenney wants for Alberta, although he’s never likely to say it out loud.
Federal law allows provincial parole boards but only for prisoners serving “provincial time,” two years less a day.
Many police officers and rural politicians complain that under federal parole procedures, provincial inmates are in and out long before they serve their sentences.
The Alberta Parole Board members, appointed by the government, will be much tougher about the early release of petty criminals who plague rural areas and the cities.
Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer says the board itself will cost about $600,000 to run. There’s no estimate of the larger expense that more jail time would obviously require.
Schweitzer and Kenney also said much more information about criminals and their records will be published.
The parole board could soon be followed by something much bigger — serious consideration of a provincial police force.
A stand-alone Alberta force to replace the Mounties was one of the key ideas considered by the Fair Deal Panel.
The panel’s report has been in the government’s hands since last month, but because of COVID-19 won’t be released until mid- or late June.
I would be very surprised if the panel does not favour a provincial force.
It would be startling if Kenney, after receiving such a recommendation, simply dismissed it.
Alberta had its own force, the Alberta Provincial Police, from 1917 to 1932, when the Depression-stricken province hired the Mounties to save money.
It will be a big switch for longtime Prairie-dwellers the day the Mounties vanish from the roads.
But the Alberta Sheriffs Branch has been quietly expanding its role for years, handling security in courts and the legislature, performing crucial surveillance, and doing much of the highway traffic patrolling.
With about 1,000 sworn members, the sheriffs could certainly be the nucleus of a provincial police force.
Once again, it’s not the most radical thing to contemplate. Alberta would become the fourth province with its own provincial force.
Ontario has had the Ontario Provincial Police since 1909. A Mountie vehicle is a rare sight at any time.
The Sûreté du Québec took shape in the 1920s and was formalized in 1938. During the FLQ crisis in October 1970, federal troops worked in co-operation with Quebec’s provincial police force.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary traces its roots back as far as 1729. Its long and colourful history, which includes spy-chasing, was rewarded with the “Royal” designation by the Queen in 1979.
The provincial constabulary covers mainly the metropolitan areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Mounties, under contract to the province, patrol rural and remote parts of the province.
In Alberta, the Calgary and Edmonton forces would stay on the job. The APP would likely take over Mountie duties everywhere else.
There’s always some level of tension between a provincial government and the RCMP, because the force is under provincial contract but federal command.
Kenney and others who want a provincial force think it will be more efficient and sensitive to local policing needs.
This won’t happen overnight. It takes two years to phase out a contract with the RCMP.
Kenney and his cabinet will have to consider many factors, including cost.
But there’s a good chance that after 88 years, the Alberta Provincial Police will make a comeback.