In one of his final moves as prime minister, Trudeau argues for bold RCMP reform

Catharine Tunney · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is utilizing immoderate of his last hours successful bureau to telephone for a drastic and arguable shakeup to 1 of the country's astir emblematic institutions: the RCMP.

In an exclusive interview, Trudeau laid retired wherefore helium believes the Mounties should get retired of the boots-on-the crushed policing they provide in provinces crossed the state and alternatively displacement absorption to challenges similar nationalist security, convulsive extremism and terrorism, wealth laundering, cybercrime and organized transgression — including fentanyl rings.

"We cognize we person an bonzer institution. But I cognize from having seen it that the RCMP is strained — we've each seen it — successful dealing with the level of threats and the caller world of a overmuch much unsafe world," helium told CBC News.

The premier curate is putting retired a achromatic insubstantial aboriginal Monday that outlines a gutsy — and arguable —  imaginativeness for the RCMP to absorption solely connected national policing priorities.

As it stands, the RCMP besides serves arsenic the constabulary of jurisdiction successful astir provinces, 3 territories, 150 municipalities and astir 600 Indigenous communities.

The premier minister's connection would spot the constabulary service eventually extremity its contracts, which reports person said soak up resources and backing to the detriment of its national policing wing.

Trudeau argued that the "gap betwixt doing indispensable front-line enforcement successful a agrarian assemblage crossed the Prairies oregon successful the North, to going aft the evilest cybercriminals you tin ideate who are threatening our kids" is truthful vast, it's "maybe not the champion usage of our resources."

"As politicians, arsenic leaders, we person a work to measurement backmost and say, 'But is this acceptable for intent successful the 21st century?'" helium said.

Government has agelong faced unit to betterment RCMP

The crux of the achromatic insubstantial — a study outlining the government's connection for authorities oregon explaining a governmental contented — is not new.

Calls to betterment the RCMP person been mounting for years — possibly ne'er arsenic aggravated arsenic aft the 2020 wide shooting successful Nova Scotia that near 22 radical dead, the worst successful Canadian history.

The resulting nationalist enquiry denounced the RCMP effect to the crisis on astir each level and called for extremist change.

In 2023, a peculiar quality and information committee warned Trudeau's authorities that it needed to springiness urgent attraction to national policing oregon hazard seeing nationalist information files autumn done the cracks.

The timing of the paper, coming the time aft the national Liberal Party elected its adjacent person and successful the last days earlier Trudeau vacates the occupation he's held for 9 years, volition apt garner criticism.

"I person been trying to bash this since the precise beginning. So this isn't maine trying to jam thing retired the door," he said, erstwhile asked astir the timing of the proposal.

"This is maine realizing that we're astatine a infinitesimal wherever we person to bring Canadians, each Canadians, into this conversation."

Trudeau didn't reply whether he's discussed his imaginativeness with his successor, saying pursuing done connected his imaginativeness would apt hint aggregate mandates of antithetic premier ministers.

The achromatic insubstantial is simply a usher to determination forward, but pursuing done would necessitate a legislative overhaul, a caller grooming academy, fund updates and rounds of negotiation.

He argued that this blueprint is for a aboriginal premier minister, "if they privation to instrumentality nationalist information seriously, if they privation to physique connected the work of keeping Canadians safe."

Proposal not supported crossed the board 

Previous iterations of the thought to ditch declaration policing haven't received across-the-board support, and Trudeau's connection volition apt find detractors with the RCMP's union, the National Police Federation, and with immoderate provinces.

While places similar Alberta person discussed ditching the Mounties implicit the years, and cities similar Surrey, B.C., already have, others accidental the outgo to spell it unsocial is excessively high.

Under the RCMP's existing declaration agreements, provinces and territories wage 70 per cent of the outgo of the RCMP's services and the national authorities covers the rest.

The agreements are acceptable to expire successful 2032. The achromatic insubstantial suggests that mightiness beryllium a bully modulation constituent and calls connected the provinces to commencement reasoning of their needs and solutions "now."

WATCH | RCMP commissioner says concern exemplary needs to change:

"I think, rather frankly, that 70-30 divided — and the information that the national authorities delivers $800 cardinal worthy of worth of policing that the provinces don't wage for each twelvemonth — is thing that we're looking to hole anyway," Trudeau said.

The premier curate said that could mean provinces going it unsocial or, for example, having an Atlantic constabulary unit oregon an bureau covering each of the Prairies.

The achromatic paper, which was shared with CBC News earlier its nationalist release, says the authorities should enactment with the territorial leaders and Indigenous partners to "define a caller policing exemplary to enactment just entree to capable and effectual policing services that bespeak their unsocial needs and circumstances."

The outgoing person said he's not saying however agelong this process should instrumentality oregon however the provinces should pivot but that the speech needs to happen.

"Every clip 1 of those comes up, it's like, 'Oh, well, the RCMP volition beryllium diminished.' Well, no, the RCMP with the stetsons and the Musical Ride and the past and the bison — but besides that bonzer planetary estimation of which Canadians should beryllium arrogant and tin beryllium arrogant — should beryllium equipped with people," helium said.

The shakeup is idiosyncratic for Trudeau, who, arsenic helium pointed out, was raised surrounded by the RCMP erstwhile his begetter was premier minister.

"I was raised connected the Mad Trapper of Rat River stories, Mounties ever get their man, this thought of the Mounties arsenic thing that is iconic and halfway to who Canada is," helium said.

"One of the things I wanted to bash erstwhile I got elected premier curate was marque definite that the RCMP structures and capacities and abilities were worthy of the unthinkable men and women who serve."

Trudeau's last time successful bureau is not yet clear, but helium told reporters past week helium would modulation to his successor successful the coming days.