EDMONTON — Alberta’s justice minister wants the federal government to fire the head of the RCMP.
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro is urging Marco Mendicino, the federal minister of public safety, to immediately dismiss RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, saying Alberta has lost confidence in her.
Shandro says Lucki has failed to do her job on multiple files, including the convoy protests and blockades earlier this year.
“The commissioner of the RCMP must be held to the highest of standards," Shandro said in a statement Wednesday.
"So far, Minister Mendicino has stood idly by while commissioner Lucki has failed to meet even the most meagre of standards for the past two years."
Mendicino said the government has confidence in Lucki.
"There is a process around the appointment of the commissioner, that process has integrity," he said in Ottawa. "There will be obviously a discussion with the commissioner as her current defined term comes to its natural conclusion. And we'll see where that takes us."
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he has previously called for a change of commissioner.
“We’ve long since said there are serious concerns with the current commissioner on a number of fronts, when it comes to the use of force, when it comes to the treatment of Indigenous communities,” said Singh.
“(There are) use of force issues (and) countless examples of lack of investigation into violence against women. There are so many examples where my confidence has been lost for a long time.”
The RCMP is a hot topic in Alberta, as the United Conservative Party government works on a plan to replace the Mounties with a provincial police force. Opinion polls and many rural and municipal leaders are against the idea.
Premier Danielle Smith has said a provincially run police service is a key part of Alberta asserting more autonomy from the federal government.
Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley dismissed Shandro’s comments as “a political tactic to try and build support for what I would argue is their bogus desire to bring in a provincial police force — a provincial police that is desperately unpopular.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2022.
The Canadian Press
