RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year member of the force and mother of two, is honoured during a moment of silence in front of her detachment in Enfield, N.S., in April, 2020.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Nova Scotia is overhauling its policing and potentially expanding RCMP services in response to the 2020 mass shooting in the province, which raised questions about how the Mounties handled the violent rampage that left 22 people dead.
The provincial review recommended restructuring police services in Nova Scotia by moving to a provincial police model. Currently, RCMP provide provincial police services, in addition to 10 different municipal police forces – a system the review found was underresourced and inconsistent.
However, Nova Scotia Attorney-General and Justice Minister Becky Druhan said she is not moving to a provincial policing model as the review recommended. Instead, she said the province will support municipalities to meet the six new public safety improvements identified in the review.
They include establishing a single police records system to replace the three that currently exist; adding community safety personnel; ensuring staffing levels are appropriate; creating community safety boards; raising provincial police standards; and introducing a new RCMP billing mechanism for municipalities.
“We have heard from Nova Scotians that there’s a need for change, and we’ve heard as a result of and flowing from incredible tragedies that our province has experienced over the last number of years that things need to change,” Ms. Druhan told reporters.
“The status quo cannot continue.”
Justice Minister Becky Druhan has announced six changes aimed at improving policing, resulting from a review launched in September 2023.
The Canadian Press
The province announced the review in 2023 after the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), which recommended establishing a committee to review the structure of policing in Nova Scotia and make recommendations that can be implemented before the 2032 expiration of the Provincial Police Service Agreement.
The MCC report examined the mass shooting and found the RCMP made a series of catastrophic errors in its response, including failure to act on red flags related to the gunman, inadequate training, poor communication with the public and a lack of co-ordination with other police forces.
Questioned about the shortcomings of the RCMP identified in the MCC report and why change is focused on municipal forces, Ms. Druhan explained that the Mounties already have a prominent role as a provincial police force, serving more than 50 per cent of the population in Nova Scotia and responding to all major critical incidents.
“The evaluation and analysis reveals the changes that need to be made to our full system, not only RCMP services, but municipal services as well, and that’s what it’s really about,” she said.
“This is about shifting the system to ensure Nova Scotians can get equitable police services and can see and expect and receive the same high quality of policing across the province.”
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Assistant Commissioner Dennis Daley, commanding officer for the Nova Scotia RCMP, said he welcomed the changes and the prospect of an expansion within the Mounties as the provincial police.
“I truly believe these are steps forward that will better serve Nova Scotians and strengthen public safety,” he said in a statement provided to The Globe and Mail.
“We look forward to working together with the Department of Justice, municipalities and communities across the province, policing partners, and Nova Scotians to shape the future of policing and public safety.”
Truro Police Service Chief David MacNeil, a past president of the Nova Scotia Police Chiefs Association, said it was too early to provide a substantive comment.
“We wholeheartedly agree that all Nova Scotians need equitable, consistent and adequately resourced policing services regardless of where they live,” said a statement from the Municipal Chief’s Caucus of the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police Association, provided by Chief MacNeil.
“While the government has proposed six areas of foundational change for a renewed policing model, we still have more questions than answers on what those changes will look like.”
Ms. Druhan said she plans to meet with municipalities this summer to help implement the changes.
B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and PEI have the same model as Nova Scotia with RCMP serving as provincial police, combined with municipal and First Nations policing services. Ontario has a stand-alone provincial police service, which Ms. Druhan said is not out of the question.
“We understand that if we had wanted to go, or if we do want to transition to a provincial police force that’s not the RCMP, then we would have to take this step anyway,” she said. “And beyond that, it would require significant investment.”
The review, conducted by Deloitte Canada, involved a 16-person committee of people from the provincial government, police agencies, subject-matter experts and others.
It found that many Nova Scotians who live in rural communities do not receive the same level of service owing in part to understaffing, and that civilian oversight is fragmented with minimal consistency.