A retired Ontario Mountie with 36 years of service believes Alberta will benefit from a provincial police service and the RCMP should focus on national obligations..Larry Comeau ran RCMP drug enforcement in Sudbury and later led national criminal intelligence and proceeds of crime sections in Ottawa. Comeau, who retired as a superintendent in 2001, sees both politics and practicalities are behind pursuit of an Alberta Police Service (APS)..“Several things seem to be driving this move [including] the increasing dislike many Albertans hold for the Trudeau government, which they feel has purposely crippled its oil industry and thereby seriously harmed the province. Recently elected Premier Danielle Smith has already put Trudeau on notice that his abysmal treatment of Alberta must stop,” Comeau told the Western Standard..“I have several friends in Alberta who remember how badly Trudeau Sr. treated their province, so this is deja vu for them with the current Trudeau.”.Comeau said rural Albertans “have felt totally abandoned” because RCMP depots are so few and far between. He said the APS can rectify this and be better staffed..“Another issue is Albertans are often being policed by RCMP members from other provinces, with no real attachment to the province. A provincial police would see primarily Albertans policing Albertans. Recruiting officers would be easy, as they would not have major moves as they would with the RCMP,” Comeau said..“I have worked with both the OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] and QPF [Quebec Police Force] over the years, and have had officers from both work directly for me. Both the OPP and QPF are excellent. I have no doubt an Alberta provincial police would be equally as professional in delivering high quality policing.”.Comeau said the APS will enjoy its direction fully coming from Alberta, but it will take some work to get established..“Promotions of the K Division Commanding Officer and detachment commanders is most often decided solely in Ottawa, with little input from the premier. With a provincial police, the Alberta premier would have a direct input in such key decisions,” Comeau said..“Setting up the communication system would be one of the major obstacles, plus arranging access with the RCMP to CPIC and other data banks. There would also be a need to either set up a police recruiting and training centre or maybe just piggyback on Ontario Police Training Centre.”.In June 2021, a House of Commons committee determined the RCMP had a divided focus with its contract policing roles and national obligations. The committee recommended that the RCMP get out of contract policing and help set up provincial and municipal forces as replacements. Comeau sees wisdom in this approach..“There have been ongoing problems in fulfilling contractual agreements in the Western provinces over the years. Often this has required taking members from federal sections in those provinces to fill the contract requirement,” he said..In the latter part of his career, Comeau was seconded to the National Security Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Later, he was an RCMP liaison officer in London, England to work with police departments there. His also cooperated with law enforcement in Scandinavia, Iceland, the Baltics, Russia, Ukraine, and Northern Ireland. He returned to Ottawa to run the liaison program that currently has officers in 26 countries..“There likely will always be a need for a federal police agency in Canada under the separation of powers. The RCMP could potentially reconfigure itself. By opting out of contract policing it could then concentrate on purely on federal statues, international liaison, and still remain the Canadian link with Interpol and other areas outside the purview of provinces,” he said..Ottawa criminology professor Darryl Davies suggested that Saskatchewan and Manitoba join with Alberta to form a Western Police Service. Comeau doubts that will happen..“With three different premiers it could be a logistical issue,” Comeau said..“With Regina being the home of the RCMP recruit training forever, having its own provincial police may be a hard sell there to the citizens. Saskatchewan residents are very loyal to everything royal.”
