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2005 November Report of the Auditor General of Canada

November 2005 Report—Chapter 1

Case Study 1.2—Negotiating community tripartite agreements without sufficient resources

Community tripartite agreements (CTAs) commit the RCMP to increase the levels of services provided to First Nations communities. The following examples illustrate two different outcomes caused by insufficient resources negotiated for CTAs.

Case 1. An RCMP detachment was responsible for providing police services to three municipalities, rural areas, and a large reserve with about 2,000 First Nation members. In 2001, it had ten peace officers to provide these services, three of whom worked primarily on the reserve. The RCMP resource-allocation model, used in the province, identified a need for 15 peace officers to properly service the reserve. In September 2002, PSEPC, the Province, and the First Nation signed a CTA to provide a new police office and eight peace officers. Deciding a police office on the reserve would need more than eight peace officers, the RCMP relocated three PPSA peace officers.

As a result, the reserve now has eleven peace officers—four fewer than the RCMP model identified as the minimum needed—but three more than provided through the CTA funding. The detachment was also left with fewer peace officers to service its other policing responsibilities.

Case 2. An RCMP detachment had six peace officers who estimated they spent about half of their efforts providing police services to a small reserve with less than 400 First Nation members. In December 2003, PSEPC, the Province, and the First Nation negotiated a CTA. Learning from its experience in Case 1, the RCMP recommended four peace officers dedicated to serving the community and would not agree to a smaller contingent. The cost of the proposal was greater than what the funding partners were willing to commit; as a result, there has been no CTA established for this community.