OLDS — Money talks.
Town council made that clear when it balked at the idea of writing a letter to the province supporting retention of the RCMP in case that could jeopardize its chances of receiving a $30,000 grant to study the feasibility of a municipal or regional police force versus RCMP.
During town council’s March 6 policies and priorities meeting, a motion by mayor Judy Dahl to write a letter to Minister of Justice/Solicitor General Tyler Shandro in support of the RCMP was defeated.
Instead, council passed a motion to simply receive a memo from administrative staff on the matter as well as a copy of a letter former mayor Mike Muzychka wrote on the topic as information.
As he introduced the topic, chief administrative officer Brent Williams noted that the provincial government deployed sheriffs in downtown Calgary and Edmonton.
It also offered money to help cover costs for Grande Prairie to move from RCMP to a municipal police force.
“It’s interesting to see how the government is shifting on this. They have not shared that shift with us, (it’s) just fairly evident when it's done in public,” he said.
Dahl spoke in favour of writing that letter in support of retaining RCMP, saying that if more municipalities take a stand on the issue that “makes it easier for clarification either way.”
Coun. Harvey Walsh asked Williams if he knew whether or not the town’s application for the $30,000 grant had been approved.
Williams did not know that for sure, but has heard that it’s been forwarded by bureaucrats to the minister’s office for approval. It’s not clear when a decision on approval or disapproval will be made.
“In that case, I’d much prefer to remain neutral on this," Walsh said.
“I’d much rather have a study of the feasibility of regional or standalone police force in Olds. It’s (been) 20 years, if not more, since we’ve done that. It would be an interesting concept to pursue in my mind.”
Councillors Wanda Blatz, Heather Ryan and Darren Wilson voiced similar thoughts.
Williams noted that news media have reported that the provincial budget is in the billions of dollars and with an election slated for the end of May, there’s been speculation that the government may hold off action on hot topics like replacing the RCMP until after that election.
Blatz pointed out the provincial election is looming. She feared that approval for a study may not come until after that vote is held.
“Based on the restricted dollars we already have within our budget, I’m willing to support just staying status quo at this point in time,” she said.
Wilson said he has mixed feelings on the issue.
He echoed concerns about what a municipal police force could cost versus keeping the RCMP.
He also noted that the council in Surrey B.C. recently reversed plans to drop RCMP service in favour of a municipal police force due to the high cost of doing so.
“On the flip side, I do like the charming appeal of more autonomy, more control, more influence over the local – if we had our own local police agency or police force, protective services. So that to me definitely carries some weight and benefit,” he said.
However, Wilson said bigger changes need to be made to the justice system to cut crime such as finding a better way to deal with repeat offenders.
So in the end, he too supported simply receiving the memo and Muzychka’s letter as information.
Ryan said Olds, as a relatively tiny community Olds' opinion on the issue would likely be little more than “a blip" on Shandro’s radar.
But on the other hand, Ryan also didn’t like taking the chance of that letter influencing whether the town receives the policing study grant, so she also recommended staying with the status quo, rather than sending the letter Dahl recommended.
“I do not believe in going the route of the Alberta police force. I think it’s going to be exceedingly costly to our province and to our municipality,” Ryan said.
“But my opinion is just my opinion. It doesn’t count. It’s what our residents want. And so right at the moment, until we do a study, we don’t know what the residents want, what would come out of it.”
The letter sent to Madu in 2021, signed by then-Olds mayor Mike Muzychka said the local RCMP detachment has been “a positive support and safe haven for our community” and that the town has “developed a strong working relationship with them and our regional detachments that are in proximity to the town of Olds.”
“We can appreciate that your department is still gathering data on this matter, but our concern is that this information is not readily available and a detailed analysis of what a provincial agency would look like has yet to be released,” the letter said.
“While we understand and support your commitment to obtain a fair agreement from the federal government, we ask that there be transparency and open discussion prior to replacing agencies that we believe have worked well for our community and province.”
