Municipal police chiefs say Nova Scotia RCMP expansion counters national trend

Municipal police chiefs in Nova Scotia say the province's decision to expand the RCMP moves in a direction opposite the rest of Canada and could lead to less effective services for residents.

A Deloitte review into the structure of policing in Nova Scotia released last month suggested that Nova Scotia should create a provincial police force offering both special services and local policing to better serve the public.

In response, the PC government is expanding the RCMP to operate as the provincial service, rather than create an independent force like the Ontario Provincial Police or Quebec's Sûreté.

The review said there is room in such a model for municipal forces that can meet provincial standards.

But the province said municipal forces that need access to special services — like emergency response or dive teams — to meet those standards must pay for the RCMP to supply them in new contracts.

Chief Ryan Leil of New Glasgow Regional Police, speaking on behalf of the municipal chiefs' caucus in the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association, said they are concerned this new requirement could come with a major price tag, forcing towns with their own departments to switch to the RCMP.

"Why is the province taking that autonomy away from the municipal police agencies to be able to collaborate and support one another?" Leil said Monday.

He said municipal agencies provide high-quality policing in urban areas where residents are used to seeing response times of just a few minutes, while the Deloitte review noted people in rural areas — which the RCMP usually police — complained of slow response times.

"We think that we are well represented in our communities, and we want to invest in what is working … the models that we have currently in our municipalities are working," Leil said.

He said it makes sense to have multiple forces with special services to offer across the province as contingencies, so there are other options if an RCMP service is tied up.

The review recommended starting with the RCMP as the provincial police service, because this would mean "fewer costs and risks" due to current RCMP agreements with the federal government. The current RCMP contract policing agreements with provinces, territories and municipalities expire in 2032.

But the review also said the province could eventually move to an independent provincial police service that would allow for more oversight and control.

The policing review was recommended by the Mass Casualty Commission, which was highly critical of the RCMP response to the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting that claimed 22 lives, and called for organizational change.

Leil said he understands that an independent provincial force would not be a "light lift," and would be very expensive to set up with the need for new training facilities and infrastructure, but it has become the trend across Canada.

Besides established models in Ontario and Quebec, Alberta announced in April it was moving to create a provincial police entity. Just before leaving the prime minister's office earlier this year, Justin Trudeau said provinces should transition away from the RCMP as contract policing.

Within the Atlantic region, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary recently took over territories from the RCMP following concerns the Mounties were not providing enough resources.

"Our province, our country has been through some very unfortunate experiences, and we've seen grave impacts to public safety over the past number of years," Leil said.

"We shouldn't shy away from doing the right thing, even if it is the most amount of work and the greatest amount of investment we have to make."

Scott Feener, police chief for the Town of Bridgewater, said they created their own police dog unit and other services years ago, because it would take days for the Nova Scotia RCMP to send requested resources.

Feener said he's concerned the Mounties will take years to scale up to the staffing levels needed to properly police their current areas and ensure they have the special services that can support an entire province in a timely manner.

"My vision would be our municipal servicing the way it is, or services growing in size," Feener said. "If they move away from it, there will be a decrease in service … our public safety within town will deplete."

Justice Minister Becky Druhan said in an interview Tuesday that she has confidence in the Nova Scotia RCMP's "ability to step up and deliver what we're asking them to do."

She said the Deloitte review's recommendations, like bringing in one record system for police, and increasing the number of special constables rather than sworn police members, will improve the quality of policing in Nova Scotia.

When asked about the national trend toward independent provincial forces, Druhan said that "would take significant extensive resources" and Nova Scotia would have to first expand the RCMP model into a provincial force, even if it wanted to go in that direction.

"Our focus is really on Nova Scotians and our provincial landscape in Nova Scotia around policing is very different than the other provinces," Druhan said.

"Nova Scotia is unique in a variety of ways — both the way in which policing has unfolded historically, also our geography and our population."

When asked about the province's requirement to have municipal forces contract new special services from the RCMP, Druhan said it is a "reflection" of the review's point that a provincial service is the best way to provide consistency.

Audits on all municipal forces and the RCMP on those provincial policing standards begin this fall, and Druhan said the province will work with municipalities "to determine next steps following that."

Druhan had a meeting with the Town of Bridgewater on Tuesday that included the mayor, chief administrative officer and chair of the town's police board, but not the police chief.

The minister said she will meet with the rest of the municipalities served by their own police departments in the next few weeks about their policing needs, and what a new funding formula will look like.

A statement from Druhan said her office appreciates the Nova Scotia chiefs' perspectives, and while her current focus is on meeting with municipalities, she plans to reach out to chiefs in the "near future."