2020- 2022 Policy Process | Green Party of Canada
Where GPC membership collaborates to develop our policies
G21-P051 Reallocation of RCMP Funding to Community-Based Programs| VGM- 2 Rejected by membership
Submitter Name
Kashtin Fitzsimons
The proposal was rejected by membership at VGM -2 with 71% of members in attendance voting to reject
Proposal
The GPC supports reallocating the annual RCMP budget of equal or greater funds to services previously delivered by the RCMP including but not limited to:
- Wellness checks and emergency calls related to mental distress;
- Community safety programs in Indigenous communities; and
- Community-based services to prevent gender-based violence.
Objective
To reallocate RCMP funding to non-violent, community-based programs.
Benefit
Between 2000 and 2017, RCMP officers killed 118 civilians. RCMP officers have pointed their guns at individuals over 5,000 times since 2017 — the most common intervention tactic used. Eliminating interactions between RCMP officers and civilians will prevent violence and provide funding for alternative services that more adequately meet community needs.
Supporting Comments from Submitter
Yale: https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/workshop/leo/leo16_fryer.pdf
White Bird Clinic (CAHOOTS Program in Eugene, OR): https://whitebirdclinic.org/
Denver Alliance for Street Health Response: https://dashrco.org/
Portland Street Response: https://portlandstreetresponse.org/
CBC: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-custom/deadly-force
CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-use-of-force-data-1.5615871
Black Lives Matter: https://defundthepolice.org/alternatives-to-police-services/
CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-contract-policing-defund-1.5626544
Green Value(s)
Social Justice, Non-Violence
Relation to Existing Policy
Add to current GPC policy
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Defund the police: This is the dogwhistle of all dogwhistles of the far left. How many people who voted for this live in communities served by the RCMP? And of those, how many are not criminals? Why not "Stop federal funding to cities who do not defund their police"? Is this about "Defund YOUR police, not mine."?
Defund your own police. Let rural Canada decide if we want to defund ours.
Fewer police in rural Canada means more crime: the already high crime rate in places patrolled by the RCMP is not because there are too many police; there is nowhere near the density of RCMP in rural AB, for example, that they are causing crime.
"Between 2000 and 2017, RCMP officers killed 118 civilians." This number is completely meaningless without the context of the individual situations: hugs are not effective when you are being shot at by a suicidal maniac...
From the supporting comments: "A spokesperson for the force said officers respond to roughly 2.8 million calls for service each year and, on average, 2,215 encounters have involved what's known as police intervention — less than one per cent of the total. "This indicates that approximately 99.9 per cent of RCMP encounters are resolved naturally or successfully de-escalated by officers without the need for police intervention," said Cpl. Caroline Duval in an email."
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