Memo warns of strain on RCMP from local policing

OTTAWA— The RCMP’s costly contract policing obligations across Canada are draining resources from the force’s federal duties in areas such as organized crime and national security, an internal government memo warns.

The demand for contract officers in the provinces and territories where they provide regular local policing services outstrips the RCMP’s capacity to recruit and train them, causing shortages that have led to officer health and wellness concerns, says the Public Safety Canada document.

In turn, there is “growing dissatisfaction” in contract jurisdictions about costs and officer vacancies, and the resulting effect on community safety, the memo says. “Public Safety Canada and the RCMP have confirmed there are systemic sustainability challenges impacting the whole of the RCMP.”

The coming unionization of rank-and-file Mounties will only intensify these pressures, the memo says.

The heavily censored memo, newly released under the Access to Information Act, was included in briefing materials prepared for the incoming cabinet following the fall election.

Over 60 per cent of RCMP’s multibillion-dollar budget and over 70 per cent of the force’s officers are assigned to contract policing in 153 municipalities, the three territories, and all provinces but Ontario and Quebec, the memo notes.

Under 20-year agreements signed in 2012, provinces, territories and municipalities pay anywhere from 70 to 90 per cent of the cost of the RCMP’s services.