'Keep Alberta RCMP' community tour makes its way through to Airdrie, Calgary

The debate over a proposed provincial police force has been ongoing since the provincial government proposed the idea this past fall.

Calls for a provincial police force were amplified following a fair deal panel report's recommendations that it would improve rural policing issues while strengthening relationships with First Nations communities.

In response, the union that represents nearly 20,000 mounties, the National Police Federation (NPF), has been touring the province since Jan. 6, speaking to Albertans.

The union's goal is to keep the RCMP in Alberta, highlighting what it says would be increased costs for taxpayers and other complications.

"With the feds picking up 30 per cent of the policing costs, I don't think there is a better bang for the buck out there for the province right now," said Kevin Halwa, director of the NPF.

"We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars if the province wanted to move to a provincial police service. Not just hundreds of millions of dollars one time, it's hundreds of millions of dollars year over year."

Making a switch to a provincial service could also mean limited resources for complex issues like the border blockades near Coutts.

The union also says although dealing with the ongoing border blockade is a complex situation, it would be far more challenging to address without the flexibility that comes with having the RCMP in place.

"The RCMP has the ability to deploy resources, not only from within the province but also to obtain resources from outside the province very quickly," said Halwa.

"A provincial police service would not have that luxury to be able to call over to Saskatchewan, or over to British Columbia or Manitoba or whatever the case may be to say hey listen, we need 100 of your guys or gals."

The 'Keep Alberta RCMP' tour also made a stop in Calgary Thursday afternoon to speak with more Albertans, hear concerns and answer questions from residents.

Halwa said after meeting with hundreds of people all across the province, roughly 80 per cent of those he's heard from are not in favour of replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force.

"Alberta’s government is studying the feasibility of establishing a provincial police service because we have a responsibility to explore whether a new policing model can improve public safety and find innovative ways of providing effective policing for everyone in Alberta, no matter where they live," said Jason van Rassel, a representative from the Alberta Justice and Solicitor General's office in a statement to CTV News on Jan. 19.

"We believe the independent feasibility study conducted by PwC Canada provided compelling evidence for continuing to study this concept and for taking these ideas to Albertans for further discussion. As part of this process, we’re conducting an extensive stakeholder agreement and will be launching a public survey soon."

Van Rassel went on to say that the entire process has been aimed at answering the question of whether or not this is a worthwhile investment for Alberta to make.

"We believe PwC Canada has 'shown its work' with innovative proposals and detailed cost estimates that make a realistic case for operating a provincial police service at the same overall cost, or lower, than the cost of RCMP provincial and municipal contract policing in Alberta," he told CTV News.

The NPF later responded to that statement, saying it is misleading.

With files from CTV Lethbridge’s Sean Marks