Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

The RCMP is Canada’s national police force and provides services from community policing to national security intelligence gathering to the legendary Musical Ride Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Despite several scandals over the past few decades, the RCMP remains one of Canada’s most prominent national institutions.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is Canada’s national police force and provides services from community policing to national security intelligence gathering.

Despite several scandals over the past few decades, the RCMP remains one of Canada’s most prominent national institutions.

Guard the border

The Canadian National Police had small, temporary beginnings. As the fledgling post-Confederation nation negotiated the purchase of Rupert’s Land, the federal government faced the problem of how to peacefully administer this vast territory.

The Hudson’s Bay Company had dominated this frontier (present-day northern Quebec and Ontario, all of Manitoba, and parts of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Northern Territories) for nearly two centuries without serious tensions between fur traders and the native population.

There were few traders and their livelihood depended on economic cooperation with the indigenous population. The company made no effort to control the native population.

Northwest Territories

Canada’s acquisition of Rupert’s Land, soon to be called the Northwest Territories, marked the introduction of a government that would, for the first time, systematically intervene in native customs.

Thousands of settlers came to occupy the land where the Cree and Blackfoot hunted buffalo freely. In a worst-case scenario, the tensions created by this process could culminate in a settler-indigenous war like that experienced in the American West.

Aside from the loss of life on both sides, the Canadian government could not count on the costs of a major “Indian war” that could easily bankrupt the country. The government also feared that the violence and lawlessness of the new territories would give American expansionists an excuse to invade.

William McDougall

In 1869, William McDougall, who was sent to the Northwest Territories as Canada’s first lieutenant governor, ordered a police force under Captain D.R. Cameron.

Half of the men in the corps were to be native Métis. In the end, however, no such force was created. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

The plans had to be put on hold when the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870 led to the creation of the Province of Manitoba in the southern corner of the territories.

Northwest Police

Nothing further happened until 1873, when Ottawa revived the idea of a federal police force as part of plans to govern the Northwest Territories.

In May of that year, Parliament passed an act establishing a military force, and in August 150 recruits were sent west to winter at Fort Garry (now Winnipeg). The following spring another 150 were added.

The new police force, which gradually became known as the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), was organized along the lines of a cavalry regiment and armed with pistols, carbines (small, short-barreled rifles),

Northwest Reports

Several reports on the situation in the Northwest Territories highlighted the symbolic importance of the traditional British Army uniform to the indigenous population. Therefore, a scarlet tunic and blue trousers were introduced.

The commander was given the title commissar. There was also a Deputy Commissioner and two officer grades, a Chief Inspector and an Inspector Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The subordinate ranks were staff sergeant, sergeant, noncommissioned officer, and constable.

The non-commissioned officers were given judicial powers as justices of the peace. Lieutenant Colonel George Arthur French, Commandant of the Permanent Force School in Kingston, Ontario, was the first commissioner.

Patrols and forts were established

1. On July 8, 1874, the new 300-strong mounted police force left Dufferin, Manitoba, and marched west.

2. Their destination was what is now southern Alberta, where whiskey traders from Montana were known to have operated among the Blackfoot people.

3. Last June, in the Cypress Hills (in what is now southern Saskatchewan), a serious incident occurred at a whiskey trader’s post in which several Assiniboines were massacred by whites.

4. The following summer, the NWMP established Fort Saskatchewan, downstream from Fort Edmonton on the North Saskatchewan River.

5. In 1876 another important post was established in Battleford (in present-day Saskatchewan). So the network of police posts and patrols was created, which was expanded year by year until it covered all areas.

Rebellion and modernization

For a decade and a half, the NWMP focused on building close relationships with indigenous peoples.

The police helped prepare indigenous people for treaty negotiations with the government and mediated conflicts with the region’s few settlers. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

The NWMP played a role in the signing of treaties covering most of the southern plains in 1876 and 1877.

Before 1885, when the Northwest Rebellion broke out, the NWMP rarely resorted to armed force.

Growing concerns in the early 1880s—due to the disappearance of the buffalo, crop failure in the Saskatchewan Valley, and disillusionment with the distant government in Ottawa—led to an increase in troop strength to up to 500 men in 1882.

keeping pace with the NWMP’s growing responsibilities. With the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the NWMP played a limited role in both southern British Columbia and the Prairies.

Police were particularly concerned about increasing unrest in the Saskatchewan Valley and warned Ottawa that violence and trouble were certain if complaints there were not addressed.

Warnings

• The warnings were ignored and the rebellion took a tragic turn.
• The Métis and indigenous rebels were defeated, and the government increased the NWMP to 1,000 men and appointed a new commissioner, Lawrence Herchmer, to modernize the force.
• The Laurier government soon faced strong opposition to its plan in the West.
• The much-discussed killing of Sergeant C.C. Almighty Voice’s Colebrook in 1895 and the hunt which lasted more than a year raised fears of a general native rebellion.

Klondike and Arctic Expansion

In the mid-1890s, the NWMP also began to move north. Rumors of gold deposits in the Yukon prompted the government to send Inspector Charles Constantine to report on the situation in this remote region.

His recommendations led to twenty officers being stationed in the Yukon in 1895. This small group could hardly withstand the large-scale gold rush that developed when news of significant discoveries reached the outside world in 1896.

By 1899 there were 250 mounted officers. Police stationed in the Yukon. Strict adherence to regulations prevented many deaths from starvation and exposure by unprepared prospectors.

The RCMP was founded

When the end of the war in 1918 reduced the need for security work, the future of the mounted police was very uncertain Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

By the end of the year, N.W. Rowell, the president of the Privy Council and a high-ranking federal official, visited western Canada seeking advice on what to do with the force.

In May 1919 he reported to the government that the police could either be incorporated into the army or expanded into a national police force. The government chose the latter path.

In the 1920s, the force’s main activities were drug law enforcement as well as security and intelligence work.

The latter reflected a widespread public fear of political upheaval sparked by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. In 1928, Saskatchewan renegotiated its provincial police contract with the RCMP.

This agreement marked the beginning of a return to more normal policing duties for the RCMP.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Course

Today, the course for new cadets lasts six months, is offered in both official languages, and covers a variety of subjects, from basic criminal law to driving and shooting to fitness and police tactics.

The Depot Division also offers courses for fisheries enforcement officers, correctional officers, local special agents and tribal police, and other enforcement and law enforcement agencies.

The depot department also operates a police dog training center in Innisfail, AB.

Since 1974, women have been recruited into the force and receive the same training as male officers. After graduation, female officers are assigned the same duties as their male counterparts.

Commitments, risk, change

Despite its difficult recent history, the RCMP today has extensive and diverse responsibilities as a national, provincial, and municipal police agency.

In 2015, the RCMP’s 28,400 personnel focused on five overarching priorities: combating serious and organized crime, serving youth, supporting Indigenous peoples, combating commercial and financial crime, and ensuring national security.

The RCMP also faces constant change. Following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling, legislation was introduced in Parliament in 2016 to amend the Public Labor Relations Act to allow Mounties to form a union.

For the first time in its history, RCMP members will have the opportunity to collectively negotiate employment contracts and terms and conditions. Click For More