INNISFAIL – The detachment commander of Innisfail RCMP says he has no idea how a new independent provincial police force will work in his jurisdiction.
In fact, Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Ihme agreed he was caught off guard by the surprise announcement on March 13 by Mike Ellis. provincial public safety minister, that the Alberta government had introduced the Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 to create a new Alberta police agency that would take on the duties now being handled by Alberta Sheriffs.
“I'm not really sure what the government is doing,” said Ihme, adding no notice was given to his office about the creation of a new provincial police agency. “It seems like they're laying the framework for a new police agency but then in the same breath they're also saying it's not to replace current police agencies.”
Ihme said provincial sheriffs worked out of the Innisfail detachment until about 18 months ago. He said local Mounties worked well with them.
“We had a good group of sheriffs that we worked with all the time. They were highway patrol sheriffs, and they were integrated with our traffic services, and they worked out of our detachment,” said Ihme. “And then the provincial government wanted the sheriffs out of the RCMP buildings, so they got moved.
“We worked really well with them. They were good fellows,” he added. “It sounds like even the sheriffs were unaware of this announcement.”
The province said the plan is to have the new independent police agency working with and supporting the RCMP, municipal police services, and First Nations police services in Alberta.
“I just don't know how that works. I don't understand how multiple layers of police bureaucracy helps anything,” said Ihme. “My gut feeling, I guess, is that this is just them making steps of preparations for a provincial police service.
“This is kind of like an announcement with not a lot of substance to it,” he added. “It was like ‘yes, we're creating a police agency’, but there's no details of what they're going to do or what they are, or anything like that.”
Meanwhile, both the National Police Federation (NPF), which represents 20,000 RCMP members, and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents Alberta Sheriffs, were upset with last week’s announcement.
“Proposed changes to policing in Alberta have been deeply unpopular with Alberta residents and today’s announcement appears to be yet another attempt to force an unwanted and expensive policing change on taxpayers,” said Brian Sauvé, NPF president.
“For several years, our members in Alberta have been caught in the middle of a highly politicized debate on policing. Rather than legislation, bureaucracy and more government spending to explore alternative policing services, it’s time to invest in the highly trained, professional provincial policing service accountable to Albertans: the Alberta RCMP.”
Bobby-Joe Borodey, vice-president of the AUPE, said the union should have been consulted before the announcement was made on March 13.
“Sheriffs want to know that their rights will be protected and that they will be properly supported in their duties,” said Borodey. “All of our law-enforcement members are passionate about their work and keeping Albertans safe.
“They deserve to be treated with respect - and that means they need to be given reassurances.”
