Leader's Mayor is expressing his concerns about the state of the RCMP in an open letter to top brass.
Aaron Wenzel noted that with an increase in organized crime activity in rural areas, he is frustrated that those communities seem to remain low priority when filling openings.
"If you look at some of the comments coming out of the top leadership of the RCMP regarding the amount of organized crime that is operating with impunity within the country," Wenzel said. "A lot of the reports coming out are showing that these cartels are finding rural locations to set up just because it's very inconspicuous.
"We've often been told for the last many years basically we're lower priority and lower risk. We've been running with two to three people in this detachment. Then, on the other hand, you have the RCMP openly admitting that there is a lot of crime by these organizations in rural areas of the country."
Wenzel pointed out that the Leader detachment is supposed to have five officers and has only recently hired a new Sergeant after a long wait.
"I think we are equally as important and that you know recruitment needs to be done better," he said. "We need to ultimately fill these positions. There was an armed robbery (in Lancer on Monday). This is real. Policing may need to change. That needs to be done very transparently by the RCMP, with proper consultation to the communities as we move forward to the end of the 2032 contract."
Wenzel added in his letter that he is opposed to the musings he has heard about merging the Maple Creek and Leader RCMP detachments.
"The last time I had heard officially is that was off the table," he said. "But prior to (the hiring of their new Sergeant), there was definitely talk again of amalgamation with Maple Creek because they're also short. Those response times would be... You can imagine if you had to wait for backup to come from Leader to Maple Creek or Maple Creek to Leader. This would only exacerbate the problem in my opinion."
Leader's mayor also expressed concerns about comments from an RCMP spokesperson addressing traditional values.
RCMP spokesperson Staff Sergeant Camille Habel spoke about an alleged militia plot to seize land in Quebec during an interview with CBC.
"Well, radicalization in general quite often will show by people isolating themselves and changing their behavior, like changing what they're saying on a subject, like becoming more extremist," Habel said. "If someone you know believed in equal gender rights but all of a sudden are leaning towards, like, traditional values, and that might be a sign that they’re becoming more extremist.
"But we also have to remember that having the most extremist views is perfectly legal in Canada and that it's only acting with violence to prove that view that becomes a criminal offense."
Wenzel raised those comments in his letter by noting that most of his constituents grew up and live in rural Saskatchewan because of the culture and lifestyle.
"A lot of people across Saskatchewan are fairly traditional," he noted. "To have an RCMP Staff Sergeant come out and claim that there's a link between the two is completely absurd, and I think it just highlights over the last three to five years, where policing has been degraded. Are you going to attract an officer who truly wanted to be a police officer when management appears to be focused more on diversity, equity, and inclusion than policing? The people that they need to round up in these cartels, they don't care about those things. How are you ever going to be able to enforce upon them when your priorities are focused on the wrong things?"
The RCMP did seek to clarify those comments in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“The RCMP is in no way implying that embracing traditional values makes an individual radical or extreme,” said RCMP spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton on July 9.
Wenzel's message received support from Swift Current-Kindersley-Grasslands MP Jeremy Patzer in a social media post.
"These are the very real concerns towns in my riding - and across Saskatchewan - face when it comes to public safety," Patzer said. "Mayor Wenzel of Leader is right: statements by the RCMP that liken traditional values to extremism are dangerous - especially as the RCMP struggles to recruit. Comms mistakes like that can erode the trust Canadians have in our institutions like the RCMP - and, as Canada faces skyrocketing crime rates, police services need our trust now more than ever: To protect, to serve, and to 'maintiens le droit': defend the law."
Wenzel wanted to be clear in his support of the officers themselves.
"It's going to be up to us to support our rank and file," he added. "Because I believe there are a lot of very, very good law enforcement people that are out there day-to-day working hard on behalf of the constituents. We just need that organization to recognize that and focus on the basics."