Feds threaten to march Mounties out of B.C.
A threat to pull the nation’s police force out of B.C. was delivered Tuesday as the province and the federal government continue to argue over the cost of the RCMP, the Vancouver Province’s Ian Austin reported.
However, currently the negotiations have stalled and Solicitor General Shirley Bond told the Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention delegates Tuesday Ottawa’s latest offer was a “take-it-or-leave it” deal.
British Columbia has the highest number of RCMP officers of any Canadian province. Outside the major urban centres – where larger communities such as Vancouver and Victoria have their own municipal forces – the RCMP are basically the law of the land.
But public disapproval of the RCMP – fueled by controversies such as the Taser death of Robert Dziekanski – there has been renewed discuss of a provincial police force independent of the RCMP.
