Saskatchewan rural councillors defeated a motion asking the provincial government to stop implementing its marshals service, but they still have questions about how it will work.
At last week’s midterm convention of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, delegates voted 61 percent against the resolution from the RM of Elfros that observed the RCMP, which already staff rural detachments, has recruitment problems.
“Where are they going to get their marshals from?” asked reeve Norm Hall who moved the motion.
He said if the province relies on retired RCMP members for management roles, then the boots on the ground will likely come from RCMP officers with three to five years of service.
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“In the meetings this morning, we heard that the RCMP are already short, and we know that they’re short in their detachments all around the province,” Hall said. “What’s this going to do to our detachments if they’re going to take another 19 or 20 or 25 people out of those to run this marshals service? It’s just going to make a bad situation worse.”
He said it would be better to spend money on bolstering the RCMP as the Saskatchewan assistant commissioner had asked before the 2023 provincial budget.
The province plans to spend $7 million this year to set up the SMS and expects it will cost $20 million each year once it’s operational in 2026. It will employ 70 officers and be headquartered in Prince Albert.
The Saskatchewan government is seeking someone to lead the service and introduced legislation to establish it just a day before the SARM debate.
The Police (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act, 2023 designates the SMS as a provincial police service. It sets out the structure, operation and governance and creates the chief marshal position.
It also establishes an advisory council of at least three members to “provide advice and guidance to the minister of corrections, policing and public safety on how to exercise their powers and duties related to the marshals service,” according to a news release.
The government has always said the marshals are to assist the RCMP in apprehending high-risk offenders and conducting investigations on gangs, illegal weapons and agricultural crimes. The marshals are expected to be most active in high-crime areas.
The contract with the RCMP expires in 2032 and some believe the SMS will take over.
During the SARM debate, Elden Jamieson, reeve of the RM of Maple Creek, said the marshal service is mandated by the provincial government while the RCMP is an agency of the federal government.
“I would like to see continued support for the marshal service and hopefully it expands province-wide in the future,” he said.
RM of Churchbridge councillor Garry Yanke said Ontario and Quebec have their own police forces as do cities.
“Probably 85, 90 percent of Canadians have their own police other than rural Saskatchewan and we have the RCMP, which is governed by Trudeau,” he said. “I’d like to keep the province looking after the marshals.”
Hall said 90 percent of the rural policing bill is paid by the federal government.
“What’s going to happen when the marshal service comes in? I don’t think that’s going to be the case. Are we going to be looking at increased fees in our municipalities for policing?” he said.
SARM president Ray Orb said policing costs are always a concern.
“We’re a bit concerned with the marshals program because we don’t feel that the province did a really outstanding job of communicating it. However, we know that (policing) minister (Paul) Merriman is more apt to sit down with us and I’m hoping he comes to our spring convention,” he said in an interview.
He said SARM members are looking for more information but continue to support the RCMP.
Ottawa has given no signals about what will happen after 2032, he said.
Orb agreed that finding marshals could be an issue, considering how the RCMP has struggled to recruit and fill vacancies. He said a lot of new officers don’t want to stay in Saskatchewan and that finding places to live could be an issue.
