Canada
| Author | Mizrahi Stephanie |
| Pages | 264-277 |
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Official country name: Canada
Capital: Ottawa
Geographic description: All of North America outside the United States, Mexico, and Greenland. Largest country in the Western Hemisphere and the secondlargest country in the world.
Population: 32,805,041 (est. 2005)
On December 12, 2003, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced the formation of a new Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Portfolio that consists of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (DPSEP) and seven agencies:
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Correctional Service Canada (CSC)
The National Parole Board of Canada (NPB)
The Canada Firearms Centre
The Canada Borders Services Agency
The DPSEP and the seven agencies are responsible for Canada's policing, law enforcement, corrections and conditional releases, and national security. Under the DPSEP's control has been placed the Department of the Solicitor General (formerly in charge of the portfolio agencies), the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (formerly under National Defense) and the National Crime Prevention Centre. The details of this major organizational change were still being worked out as of 2005 and—as with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—it will likely be several years before the dynamics of the new organizational relationships are fully understood.
Policing in Canada, as in most countries, is a function of geographic, social, economic, and political factors that have shaped the country. As in the United States, the earliest days of policing in Canada were characterized by a fragmented, local, and ad-hoc approach to law enforcement. While a night-watchman force made an appearance as early as 1651 in Quebec, the officers did not gain a law enforcement role until 1673 with the imposition of the British justice of the peace system. The position of constable was introduced to the French-speaking provinces in 1787, most particularly in the cities of Montreal and Quebec.
Police forces did not begin to appear in the English-speaking areas until the mid- to late eighteenth century.
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The development of policing in Upper Canada (now Ontario) followed a pattern similar to that of England, and English settlers incorporated the roles of sheriffs, constables, and justices of the peace into their settlements. In 1792 English common law was established as the law for Upper Canada, followed by the Parish and Town Officers Act of 1793. This act provided for the appointment of high constables who would in turn appoint citizens to serve as constables in each parish or township in the high constable's provincial district. Similarly, the governor of Newfoundland was empowered by royal proclamation in 1792 to appoint constables and justices of the peace. This constabulary-based system lasted until about the mid-nineteenth century. A rise in the perception of a crime problem—if not the actual development of a crime problem—eventually led municipalities to develop more modern police forces. For instance, a police force of six men replaced Toronto's night watchmen in 1835, and the Municipal Institutions of Canada Act of 1858 authorized municipalities to form police forces overseen by boards of commissioners. Through most of the late nineteenth century, a police presence was found mostly at the municipal level, following the English constabulary tradition. Organized policing came to the Canadian west even later. Partly due to sparse settlement and partly due to low rates of serious crime, the first organized police force did not arrive in British Columbia until 1858 with the onset of the gold rush. A formal provincial force was formed in 1871 when British Columbia joined the Confederation.
In 1867 the British North American Act delegated to the provinces the establishment of their own police forces, courts, and correctional institutions, defining for the provincial level a key role in the administration of justice. One year later, the first federal police force—the Dominion Police Force—was formed primarily to protect government buildings and property and to enforce counterfeiting laws. At the same time, under the provisions of the 1867 act, the provinces proceeded to establish their own forces. The 1867 act would have seemed to end any question of provincial leadership in law enforcement. However, the provincial forces proved to be less than effective—mostly due to considerable political interference. This situation, combined with the establishment of a new federal police force in the west, would have profound consequences for how provincial police services were to be delivered.
The terms police officer and peace officer are used interchangeably in Canada. Such officers are defined broadly in Canada's Criminal Code and include mayors, members of the CSC, customs or excise officers, fishery guardians, and pilots in command of aircraft (Department of Justice, Canada, Criminal Code R.S. 1985, c. C-46, s. 2). The basic duties of Canadian police officers are similar to those of the United States and the United Kingdom and include law enforcement, order maintenance, and service.
All policing in Canada is divided among three levels: federal, provincial, and municipal. Canada has ten provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. In addition, there are three territories: the Northwest Territory, the Yukon Territory, and the Nunavut Territory.
There are three primary police forces in Canada:
The RCMP, Canada's largest police force, is both the national and federal police force. As a result of contractual agreements, the RCMP provides policing services for eight of the ten provinces (excluding Ontario and Quebec and parts of Newfoundland and Labrador) and over two hundred municipalities.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the police force for the province of Ontario, is the largest in Ontario and the second largest in Canada. It is responsible for areas in the province that do not have municipal or regional police services.
The Sûreté du Québec, meaning Quebec security or safety, is Quebec's provincial police force. It provides service to areas in the province that do not have municipal or regional police forces and as such is primarily present in small rural and suburban areas. It also polices the provincial highways and is responsible for crime investigation in the province.
The national government is responsible for enforcement of federal laws and statutes as well as for providing policing services for the territories. In addition, the federal government runs a penitentiary and parole system. Criminal laws are set forth in the Criminal Code of Canada promulgated by Parliament. The criminal code is enforced by all federal, provincial, and local police forces. In theory, the administration of justice is dealt with in the provinces. Provinces and municipalities each have responsibility for their own criminal justice organizations and infrastructures although the lines dividing governmental levels are more blurred than organizational flow charts might indicate, and each province and municipality differs in its approach to its law-enforcement responsibilities.
The organization and structure of municipal police forces—and their relationship with provincial structures—vary widely across Canada. As of 2003, there were approximately 515 municipal or regional police forces, with the RCMP providing contract service to over two hundred of those forces. Municipal forces can range in
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size from one to six thousand. The Metro Toronto police force is comparable in size to the OPP. Most of the municipalities bear much of the cost of such forces, with some aid from the provincial governments. At the same time, provincial forces can and do provide many specialized services that the municipal forces—especially the small ones—cannot. For example, the OPP provides such resources as Tactical Response Units (TRUs), similar to the U.S. SWAT team, canine units, bomb disposal, divers, helicopters, and major crime investigative units. Most municipal forces are overseen by police boards, but the boards vary widely in the extent to which they are involved in budgets and daily operations. In addition to the Criminal Code, municipal police forces enforce the provincial statutes within their jurisdiction as well as any relevant municipal bylaws. They also have the authority to enforce some federal statutes, such as the Narcotics Control Act.
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