RCMP recruiting in Alberta is becoming a Target Rich Environment

Alberta Budget 2006-07: The highlights
Last updated Mar 22 2006 05:28 PM MST
CBC News

# Money is provided for up to 80 more RCMP officers, more prosecutors and a 20-member organized crime surveillance team.

Footnote on this: Last year the Alberta government added another 100 new positions on its provincial contract. For all intents and purposes those positions are rumored to be unfilled as yet due to attrition rates not keeping up.

PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2006.04.27
BYLINE: Janice Tibbetts
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen

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Law and order will be high on spending list: More Mounties, stronger
border to be part of tough-on-crime budget

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The Harper government's first budget is expected to include a major cash
infusion to hire new Mounties and other police officers, using a
combination of new money and funds diverted from the federal gun
registry.

The Conservatives are keeping the dollar amount under wraps in the days
leading up to the May 2 budget, but law-and-order groups expect more
than $100 million and possibly up to $180 million if the government
makes good on an array of election promises.

The election platform called for hiring 1,000 RCMP officers with money
saved from the gun registry, which currently costs about $80 million
annually.

Jay Hill, a Conservative MP and the party's whip, told the Prince George
Free Press this week that reallocating money from the gun registry to
the RCMP is a major priority in next week's budget.

...

Mr. Day also suggested this week that the RCMP would be happy with the
coming budget, and that there would be money for "programs to prevent
crime and youth at risk."

...

While money for the RCMP is expected to be a big-ticket budget item,
Sgt. Martin Blais, an RCMP spokesman, would not speculate on how the
money would be spent, or even how much it would cost to recruit and
train 1,000 new officers.

"At this time, we haven't come up with an estimate," he said. "You can't
just add up 1,000 base salaries."

Although there has been speculation that the Conservatives intend to
reopen RCMP detachments near the U.S. border in Quebec that were closed
by the Liberals, Sgt. Blais said it is up to the RCMP to determine how
new money will be spent.

And I saw something about BC coughing up the cash for 215 new RCMP positions on their provincial contract.

One thing I was told by the RCMP recruiter that presented my information session last July was that Alberta (Known officially as "K" division) has taken the option of basically Right of First Refusal to every single recruit that is generated from within the province. Basically, if there are open spots in Alberta, K Div has the right to ask for anybody that came from here to come back here. Only fair since their budget and resources went to getting that member into the Force!

Not such a bad thing... I like getting my RalphBucks cheques!

No cards, no calls, no letters?

I called the Mounties today. The stress was getting to be a little much - my polygraph was almost 3 weeks ago, why the fuck haven't they called, sent a singing telegram, pony express, fax or email?? It was killing me.

So I called. (Paraphrased here)

"Hi, this is Kyle, I have an open file with you and I was wondering if I could get an update on my progress - I haven't heard anything since my polygraph"

"Just a sec, I'll look at your file" Click, on hold.

Click. Back. "you haven't gotten a letter yet?"

"No, ma'am."

"just a sec" Click. On hold.

Still on hold.

They should consider elevator music, holding is boring.

Holding...

My blood pressure is measured in decibels cause I'm still on hold...

FOR THE LOVE OF TIMBITS WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY POLYGRAPH I DON'T EVEN LITTER IPROMISEIWILLNEVEREVERDOAROLLINGSTOPAGAINJUSTPLEASEPICKUPTHEPHONE!!!!!

Click. Back. "So you had eye surgery in February, correct?"

"Yes, Ma'am"

"OK, they didn't send you a letter out because your file is flagged as being on hold until three months is up, so they were just going to wait until then to send you the information for the opthamologist, then your file will go to medical and background checks. But you passed your polygraph."

PHEW! I can breathe again!

I got a little bit more information about some of the related stuff I needed to know, then I needed a break and to blow off some steam, so I loaded up a couple of rifles and one of my competition handguns and headed off to the shooting range for the rest of the afternoon to waste the rest of my day off