Local leaders reject Alberta police force plans, suggest a referendum on issue

Cathy Heron, President of Alberta Municipalities, on March 9, 2022. (Source: Alberta Municipalities)

Albertans should be able to cast ballots in a referendum on whether or not to replace the RCMP with a provincial police service, a group of local leaders requested Wednesday afternoon.

By a vote of 144-34, members of Alberta Municipalities also rejected the proposed models the UCP government is considering for operating its own police service.

"Our questions are not being answered. That engagement hasn't been there. There's been turmoil in the ministry of justice, so we don't even know who to talk to," president Cathy Heron said Wednesday.

After then-Justice-Minister Kaycee Madu was asked to "step back" due to controversy in January, Heron said she and other leaders couldn't get answers from the government.

She now has a meeting with new minister Tyler Shandro in April.

"I don't know if I'll be able to hire my detachment commander. I don't know if I'll be able to deal with complaints within my community. Those are questions that are really important to municipalities and they're being left unanswered," Heron said.

Local leaders also voted to urge the province to "address the root causes of crime" and "ensure the justice system is adequately resourced to enable timely access to justice for all Albertans."

In November, Premier Jason Kenney pitched the police plan to a different gathering of local leaders, by saying any additional costs for policing would be covered by Alberta and not towns or cities.

“We won't make any changes without careful consultation with municipalities because it affects you so much, and more broadly with Albertans,” Kenney promised in a keynote speech to the Rural Municipalities of Alberta group on Nov 26.

A provincial survey done for the "Fair Deal Panel" suggested that two-thirds of Albertans do not wish to replace the RCMP.

The National Police Federation, which represents 20,000 RCMP officers across Canada, released a survey last fall which claimed that just 26 per cent of Albertans support the idea of replacing the RCMP while 60 per cent do not, with 14 per cent undecided.

Alberta Municipalities serves and represents 275 of Alberta's 334 municipalities, it was previously called the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA).

CTV News Edmonton reached out to the Justice and Municipal Affairs ministries for comment on this story.

With files from The Canadian Press