Alberta names provincial police force, appoints former Calgary officer as first chief
Minister says Alberta Sheriffs Police Service will report to civilian oversight board
Alberta's government has named its own provincial police force and announced its first chief.
Former deputy Calgary police chief Sat Parhar has been tapped to lead the new force, which the province says it intends to call the Alberta Sheriffs Police Service.
Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday that the new service, which will be based in Calgary, isn't meant to replace the RCMP entirely, though municipalities will have the option to contract the new service for their policing needs instead of the Mounties.
The agency will also support RCMP detachments and pick up the slack where they're falling, she said.
"We want to make sure that everybody feels that they've got the policing that they need close to home," she told a Calgary news conference, adding the province has already had "a couple" of inquiries from municipalities.
Smith also said that by creating the force, Alberta is preparing for a reality where Ottawa ends contract community policing in 2032, when the RCMP's existing contracts across Canada are set to expire.
"Alberta's government is preparing and acting instead of waiting and reacting," she said. "Our goal is to put solutions in place before serious challenges develop."
Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis, speaking alongside Smith, said Alberta's new force would be a viable option to replace the RCMP come 2032.
Ellis also said the new agency will report to a civilian oversight board and not the provincial government, despite being a Crown corporation.
According to Ellis, as of April, Alberta had a little more than 1,200 sheriffs taking care of — among other things — inmate transportation, enforcing traffic laws and investigating problem properties used for drug trafficking and gang-related crimes.
Earlier this year, the province also committed $29 million to have sheriffs bolster Alberta's border security.
Roughly half of the existing sheriffs perform duties similar to those of police officers, though Ellis's office could not say how many would be transferred to the new agency under Parhar.
"The new agency was always intended to assume police-like duties currently performed by the Alberta Sheriffs," said press secretary Arthur Green.
"Planning work is ongoing and we will provide further information once decisions have been made."
Smith said Parhar, who retired from the Calgary police service in 2019, has the appropriate leadership skills and experience to launch the new service from the ground up.
While with the Calgary Police Service, Parhar was subject to an investigation by Alberta's police watchdog for allegedly obstructing justice, though he was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Parhar, speaking alongside Smith and Ellis, said his first order of business as chief is to hire an executive team and develop standards for recruitment, training and operations.
"We are building a police service that reflects Alberta, its people, its communities and its future," he said.
Opposition NDP public safety critic David Shepherd questioned why Smith's government was moving forward with a provincial police force despite promising a possible referendum on the subject as early as next year.
"On the one hand, they're saying we'll have a referendum. On the other hand, they're moving forward and not doing any consultation," Shepherd said.
"They're making it up as they go along."
Shepherd said creating a provincial police force was "a zombie idea" that Albertans have repeatedly spoken against, and criticized the government for "refusing to let it go."
Ellis said earlier this year that Alberta has put aside $6 million this year to hire the new service's chief, senior staff and cover initial setup costs.
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High River residents paid $2.3M for controversial RCMP home and gun sweeps during 2013 flood
The house entries and seizures of more than 600 firearms sparked outrage among residents and even claims that gun safes had been breached by the Mounties
More than $2.3 million in compensation has been paid out to High River, Alta., homeowners whose doors and windows were busted through and floors muddied when authorities carried out controversial house sweeps during historic floods in June 2013.
Provincial and town officials confirm the claims process is pretty much complete and close to 1,600 claimants have received cheques averaging about $1,500.
A report released last year found that RCMP-led search teams used crowbars and sledgehammers, in some instances, to gain entry to homes and dragged mud and debris across floors as they searched for stranded people and pets and checked for gas leaks, weapons and other hazards.
The house entries and seizures of more than 600 firearms sparked outrage among residents and even claims that gun safes had been breached by the Mounties. But an investigation by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP could find no evidence to support those claims.
The watchdog did, however, criticize the Mounties for carrying out, in some cases, overly broad searches for firearms and contraband and for improperly seizing a number of guns that had been lawfully secured. (The Criminal Code allows only for warrantless seizures of unsecured firearms or contraband that are in “plain view”).
All firearms seized by police were later returned, except those that went unclaimed or were asked to be destroyed by their owners.
The 2013 floods across southern Alberta forced the evacuation of 100,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
In hard-hit High River, a town of 13,000 south of Calgary, RCMP-led search teams entered more than 4,600 homes, sometimes more than once. They used force to get into 754 of them, according to official reports, though the number was likely higher due to incomplete record keeping.
Residents who wished to file a damage claim were instructed to file a report with the RCMP and include photographs and receipts for repairs they performed. More than 2,100 claims were submitted.
“Residents would submit their claims to the RCMP, and once approved by the RCMP, the Town would send them a cheque,” said High River spokesman Kevin Tetzlaff in an email. “The Town would then be reimbursed from the province through its own Disaster Recovery Program claim.”
To date, 1,574 claims have been paid out in the amount of $2,340,440.83, said Tim Seefeldt, a spokesman for Alberta Municipal Affairs. The average amount paid was $1,485.24.
The largest amount paid was $63,001.06 — but it was for a building with multiple units, Seefeldt said.
“The claims were covered by the Government of Alberta, but will be eligible for federal reimbursement,” he said.
Meanwhile, the last of thousands of damage claims stemming from the flooding itself are being processed.
Southern Alberta residents were invited to apply to the province’s Disaster Recovery Program for financial assistance to cover uninsurable losses.
As of late May, the province had paid out more than $145 million to more than 6,500 home and business owners — roughly half went to those in High River. About 200 claims have not been finalized and about 80 appeals are still pending.
A group of High River residents sent a report to the province earlier this year to draw attention to the unresolved cases and to what they said were “systemic failings” with the program, including the lack of an effective case management system.
The province has committed to reviewing the program and making improvements.
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