Alberta government offering to pay for feasibility study costs of ditching RCMP

The Alberta government announced on Tuesday a new grant for municipalities and Indigenous communities wanting to study launching their own police service.

The government is spending $6 million over two years for the program. Each community and municipality could receive up to $30,000 for an independent study to determine if a new police service is "a better fit."

"The feasibility study will outline potential models that will best serve the community which may include a local, self-administered police service, possibly regional policing, additional law enforcement supports, or the status quo," Mike Ellis, Alberta's minister of public safety and emergency services, said.

"The intent of these grants is to give communities like St. Albert the tools and information to make an informed decision about what's best for them."

During the news conference in St. Albert, the city's mayor and Alberta Municipalities president Cathy Heron told reporters the grant empowers municipalities, "and that is really important."

The province has received grant applications from 13 communities, but Heron said St. Albert has not applied yet.

"It does not make sense for Leduc, Spruce Grove and St. Albert, and maybe Fort Saskatchewan, to have individual municipal services, so we would very much welcome the opportunity to pool this money. And we've been given the OK on that one to have that conversation."

The province is already working with Grande Prairie and Siksika First Nation to help them replace the RCMP.

Earlier this month, Treaty 8 First Nations in northern Alberta said they wanted their own police services.

The UCP government has been working on replacing the RCMP with its own police service for months, despite several calls to scrap the idea.

"Our support for these local policing initiatives has led some people to wrongly suggest that the government is abandoning the exploration of an Alberta police service, so let me be clear…the provincial government hasn't made any decision about the Alberta Police Service," Ellis said.

"The Alberta government still believes it's prudent for the province to weigh all its public safety options."