Alberta taking next step to establish independent police agency, municipalities could opt-in

Alberta has announced new legislation to build on the existing groundwork for the creation of a new police agency announced last year.

Bill 49 — the Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act 2025, makes amendments to the Police Act which would specify that the new “independent agency police service” would be a Crown corporation and would operate at “arm’s length” of the government. Under the legislation, municipalities will be able to choose whether or not they want to select the new police agency as their local police service once it becomes operational.

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Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said at a press conference on Monday the purpose of the new agency is to have the fastest response times to a 911 call, citing complaints he has received from municipalities about the current service and its cost.

“If we can help police services all throughout this province, I don’t care if it’s a police jurisdiction regarding the RCMP, Calgary or Edmonton, we want to be able to make sure that we can do that,” Ellis said.

Alberta considers 600 Alberta Sheriffs to move to new agency

In the legislation announced in spring 2024, the province previously said the new police agency would take on policing functions currently performed by the Alberta Sheriffs, which currently does not have a civilian oversight board. In November 2024, the province appointed an independent agency police oversight board to establish an oversight framework, develop guidelines and policies, and give input on recruitment.

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Ellis said the province has already identified roughly 600 people within the Alberta Sheriffs that, with the appropriate training, could become police officers. Those 600 sheriffs would then be moved to the new police agency service, separate from the Alberta Sheriffs.

According to the province there are approximately 1,200 Alberta Sheriffs. It did not say if the province would hire to replace sheriffs who leave their positions as peace officers to become police officers.

“We will do whatever it takes to keep Albertans safe and if I get more police officers out there quicker, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Ellis said.

No cost or timeline

There is currently no dollar amount or timeline for when the new police agency would become operational, but Ellis said the province will not be starting from the ground up.

The new police agency would be established by regulation as a Crown corporation with a board of directors to ensure it operates as an independent policing entity. Officials said details on the composition and the appointment of the board of directors, budgeting and reporting will be set out in regulations.

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The province currently spends approximately $136 million on the Alberta Sheriffs. Ellis said that money would go to the new Crown corporation but he did not specify whether the full amount or just a portion of it would go towards the new agency.

“(Alberta Sheriffs) already have equipment. They already have infrastructure in place. We already have something that we can transfer over,” Ellis said.

Ellis said there would be cost savings at the new agency. He did not specify what the savings would be but pointed to Grande Prairie which plans to establish its own municipal police force by 2028, replacing the RCMP.

The RCMP would remain the official provincial police service and municipalities would simply have a new option for local policing needs, according to Ellis, despite previous concerns over the new police agency potentially replacing the RCMP.

Alberta NDP public safety and emergency services critic David Shepherd said after speaking to municipalities across the province, while some have voiced interest in their own local police force, he said “not one of them” have asked the province to spend millions of dollars setting up an independent provincially operated police force.

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“None of them are interested in this provincial government taking more control and imposing its own new franchise model of its own Alberta provincial police force onto municipalities,” Shepherd said.

When it comes to the province potentially redirecting 600 sheriffs as potential police officers to the new agency, Shepherd says he has “serious questions” about what will happen to the other core duties sheriffs are supposed to be fulfilling.

Police review commission coming later in 2025

Bill 49 will propose further legislation to the Police Amendment Act to establish its promised Alberta Police Review Commission set to launch later this year. The organization will handle complaints against municipal and First Nations police services across the province.

The proposed legislation would clarify roles, processes and definitions, including setting out investigative processes for each level of complaint, unifying timelines for complaint notifications and adding a liaison role within police services.

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The amendments would ensure the commission would operate at “arm’s length” and independent from the government. The commission will absorb the Alberta Serious Incident Response Tram (ASIRT), despite an ongoing review on the relationship between ASIRT and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.

“ASIRT is still going to remain an independent body it’s just going to fall under the police review commission,” Ellis said.

Under the commission, ASIRT’s mandate will expand to include cases involving provincial and community peace officers.

New emergency amendments

The hefty Bill 49 includes proposed amendments to the Emergency Management Act.

The proposed legislation would place new requirements for the public safety and emergency services minister to consult with the premier, cabinet or other elected officials before authorizing emergency orders, in addition to communicating orders to Albertans clearly and promptly.

The bill would also update the definition of an emergency to make it clear that “emergencies are sudden and temporary events, and the use of emergency powers should only be used for as long as necessary to restore public safety.” According to the province, this would then increase the threshold needed to access extraordinary powers under the act.

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Municipalities would be required to develop evacuation plans during emergencies and need to include mitigation strategies.

The legislation also plans to enhance disaster recovery by making changes to Federal Disaster Financial Assistance. The province plans to enable its disaster recovery program to provide mitigation funding to local authorities, meaning when a municipality rebuilds after an eligible disaster, then additional support can be provided  to take proactive steps to protect against future disasters.

With files from Matthew Black

ctran@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kccindytran

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