|
NEWS RELEASE |
|
| November 23, 2005 | For
Immediate Release |
AUDITOR
GENERAL CONFIRMS PROVINCIAL RCMP SHORTAGES
“I wrote our Justice Minister to find out why there are
no outstanding requests.”
Ottawa – Today, Garry Breitkreuz, M.P. for Yorkton-Melville, sent every municipality in his riding copies of his letter to Justice Minister Frank Quennell. Breitkreuz’s letter asks why the federal government hasn’t received Saskatchewan’s request to fill more than 40 RCMP vacancies in the province. “We all need to know why the federal Minister of Public Safety keeps saying there are ‘no outstanding requests’ for RCMP officers from the provinces. Even this week’s report from the Auditor General confirms there are shortages, staffing and training problems in the provinces,” reported Breitkreuz.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser reported her findings into the RCMP’s policing contracts (see link to full report below) to Parliament yesterday including:
| •
the RCMP is at risk of not meeting future resource demands; • the RCMP needs 1,400 new cadets a year but graduates only 1,200 annually; • inadequacies in filling staff absences leave numerous gaps in detachments; • inconsistent reporting to municipalities and smaller communities; • surveys provide limited information on RCMP performance; • inadequacies found in identifying resources required; • gaps in training may compromise the health and safety of police and the public; • gaps in completing training for newly graduated cadets; • failure to requalify and recertify for mandatory training; • Aboriginal Policing Agreements are not being implemented as stated; • Aboriginal Policing agreements affect policing under provincial agreements; • the Federal Government is not monitoring the implementation of contracts; and • the RCMP vacancy rates are as high as 25 percent in certain federal drug and organized crime policing units in contract provinces; |
Breitkreuz’s letter to the Saskatchewan Justice Minister stated: “There is a current shortage of between 44 and 47 RCMP officers according to the Minister of Public Safety and confidential RCMP sources. I look forward to a reply to this letter so I can assure my constituents that public safety and fighting crime is a top priority for your government as demonstrated by your immediate request to fill the current shortage of RCMP officers in our great province.”
“It’s not like the federal Liberals couldn’t help us out. After all they waste $100 million a year on their useless firearms program,” concluded Breitkreuz.
AUDITOR GENERAL’S
REPORT - NOVEMBER 22, 2005
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/media.nsf/html/20051101pr_e.html
MINISTER McLELLAN’S QUOTES ON SHORTAGE OF 1,059 RCMP OFFICERS http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/publications/2005_new/33.htm
-30-