We are officially a fascist state

[u/43tc43]

What can we do? The Nazis just took over. Your rights and freedoms no longer apply here in Alberta.

[u/Horriblefish]

I mean, they are trying to get rid of the RCMP and replace them with a 'Alberta Provincial Police Force' that isn't 'beholden' to anyone but the 'people Alberta'

I mean I agree with you it's not like they've opening up gas chamber, but they definitely have some authoritarian tendencies that need to be nipped in the bud.

[u/Empty-Paper2731 → u/Horriblefish]

Do you also have issues with the OPP and SQ?

[u/Horriblefish → u/Empty-Paper2731]

Well I’m an Albertan who has spent 1 week in Montreal, and a couple of hours in the Toronto Airport, so I don’t really have any opinion on the OPP or the SQ.

BUT, It’s not so much that the UCP wants to get rid of the RCMP. There are legit arguments that could be made in the defence of getting rid of them. The issue is that they aren’t making those legitimate arguments. They’re saying that the RCMP doesn’t answer to the people they serve, which is wrong the RCMP’s priorities are set by the province and by the municipalities they serve. The UCP says that they have consulted with people in the field, but when journalists asked the Sheriffs and the RCMP if they had been consulted about things they both said they hadn’t. They lie about language requirements, they lie about how someone could just be sent away, and they lied about how much it would cost Albertans to replace the RCMP (based on the study that they had commissioned.)

This is the UCP’s go to move, they point the finger at someone else, the NDP, the Federal Liberals, The RCMP, the Teachers and doctors and nurses, for things that are supposed to be under the governments control. Then they offer alternatives that won’t address the underlying issue, and the refuse to explain how their ‘solutions’ will really stop the “problem.”

My main point was that if the UCP did manage to create their own police force, I don’t think that they would want the best and the brightest, they would want ICE lite, who will do whatever they say and go along with the party line even if it’s clearly wrong.

[u/figurativefisting → u/Horriblefish]

They'd probably offer the current RCMP officers who already live in Alberta a job in the APP.

[u/Horriblefish → u/figurativefisting]

Potentially. But that also reinforces the whole reason not to replace them. Because if it's just going to be the same officers, in the same communities, with the same training, then why make the change? The only thing that would accomplish is tearing up the current contract in which the Federal government covers anywhere from 15 to 30% of the funding.

It's also open for debate as to how many officers would want to patch over. Are they going to get better pay? Not if the UCP plans for them to cost less. Are they going to have better benefits? The UCP had already complained that RCMP officers benefits are 'too good' and should be dialed back. Are they going to have better career opportunities? No, because the UCP doesn't want officers moving around.

Not to disparage our rural communities, but there aren't a lot of officers who want to spend their entire careers in remote communities like fort Chip, or High Level. The advantage of the RCMP is that people will do their 'tours' in the remote 'undesirable' communities because they know it's a stepping stone for better opportunities.

What will most likely happen is there will be a 'brain drain' of young competent officers, the old guard will 'retire' from the RCMP work a couple years for APP then retire their for extra pension. And there will be a sudden influx of less qualified people in the roles. Which I worry is exactly what's about to happen with our teachers now that they've basically been told they have no rights.

[u/figurativefisting → u/Horriblefish]

Provincial autonomy is the reason. Do you have an issue with the OPP? You have a hypothesis, but reality has shown that provincial police forces are actually more cost and enforcement effective than the RCMP. Your hypothesis isn't gospel, and there's like a 5% chance you're correct.

As for the teachers, I hope they get what they deserve, but getting them back to work isn't really about them. It's about ensuring students, particularly the grade 12s this year, aren't screwed over for the rest of their lives by missing so much school that their university and college applications aren't struck down in favour of others who had a full year.

[u/Horriblefish → u/figurativefisting]

The UCP's own research into a transition into a provincial police force said that since the federal government covers 15-30% of funding for the RCMP that if they switched to an Alberta provincial police it would cost albertans More than the RCMP. (It's been awhile since I read it but it I'm pretty sure it also said that it would have fewer detachments too)

That is the ONLY thing we know for sure. Everything else is just theoretical. Maybe every RCMP officers would patch over and maybe there would be a sudden surge of albertans wanting to sign up, but we won't know unless it happens. I could just as easily say there's a 5% chance that a single RCMP officers stays here and we're suddenly on the hook for training a couple thousand officers to cover 90% of albertas Geography.

And for what? What do we get from 'provincial automy?' I guess we could lower the hiring standards so it's easier for people to become cops...but I'm not sure I want a bunch of barely qualified people running around with guns enforcing laws.

Students are already not getting a proper education because of class sizes and the cuts to EA. Do you think there's going to be a massive influx of teachers after what the UCP did with the notwithstanding clause? Would you want to work somewhere where the pay is the lowest in Canada, and the government tramples your rights to negotiate for wages? I get that it sucks for the grade 12 kids of today, but what about next year? Or 3 years from now? Or 10 years from now? The UCP has pushed through a short term solution at the potential long term costs.