Black Diamond council unanimously voted to support another letter opposing the creation of a provincial police force.
In June, Black Diamond council agreed to send a letter to the Minister of Justice in
support of continued policing service with the RCMP.
The latest motion was made by Coun. Daryl Lalonde during the regular council meeting on Wednesday, April 6.
The newest letter, drafted by the National Police Federation, calls on the provincial government to abandon efforts toward forming a provincial police force and instead work to improve current police services, increase support for social services and increase resources within the justice system.
Currently, the federal government provides $170 million for RCMP services in Alberta, and it remains unclear how that money would be replaced if the switch is made to a provincial police service.
Black Diamond CAO Sharlene Brown told council “there has been no plan or indication where those additional dollars would come from.”
“I don’t think anybody knows what this plan is that the province has.”
Coun. Ted Bain said that although council supports the RCMP, he had concerns about the letter, calling it “a little bit confrontational.”
“I just don’t like the tone of it.”
Bain also questioned a claim in the letter that said 84 per cent of Albertans want to keep the RCMP, and he said it was unclear where the information came from.
“I would certainly be in support of us sending a letter saying, “Yeah we support the RCMP”, but I just feel very uncomfortable with this particular letter,” said Bain.
Thomson agreed that the letter was strongly worded but said that was necessary.
“This is the second letter,” she said. “This is getting strong because it is felt that the province isn’t listening to us.”
She said public engagement has not happened like the province said it would, and it feels like a provincial police force is being forced onto municipalities and Albertans.
“I really feel, this is really being pushed down the throats of Albertans at this point,” she said.
She said the lack of public engagement was “quite annoying” and is similar to what happened with coal mining.
“We have to stand our ground. We’ve done it once, and it fell on deaf ears,” said Mayor Brendan Kelly.
Turner Valley also discussed the letter during their meeting Wednesday.
Coun. Jonathan Gordon’s motion to accept it as information and take no further action was carried.
Gordon said he has serious concerns about mixing municipal politics with union representatives.
The National Police Federation, who wrote the letter, is the union for rank-and-file members of the RCMP.
Coun. Garry Raab said that the town has already shown support for the RCMP and that sending additional correspondence was not necessary.
Black Diamond Couns. Andrew Dunning, Chad Vandenhoek and Deputy Mayor Veronica Kloiber were absent from the meeting.
