$3.3M in funding will add 9 officers to Manitoba RCMP emergency response team, justice minister says
Funding already announced in 2025 budget will increase team to 18 full-time members
The Manitoba government is spending $3.3 million to add nine new officers to the RCMP's emergency response team, as part of its plan to address crime in rural areas.
The money will increase the team's staff to 18 full-time positions, in a unit that uses specialized training and equipment to resolve high-risk situations, including some searches and arrests, serious violent crime and hostage situations.
"Really, any time that officer safety is at risk, this is an opportunity to support that work," Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said during a news conference at the legislative building Tuesday afternoon.
"What this particular unit will be able to do is to add that next level of support that law enforcement so desperately needs, and the impact that will have is to make our communities safer and give people that peace of mind that law enforcement is taking this very seriously."
Owen Ferguson, assistant deputy minister of public safety, said the team is tapped for a wide range of situations.
"There could be a number of scenarios where you have an emerging situation [in] which there's a request going in to RCMP HQ for support," Ferguson said.
"[You] could also be looking at a planned execution of project … or potentially, there's been some ongoing incidents in a community or a region that's requiring some additional support for the members as they are responding to those incidents."
The new members of the unit are being funded with money already announced in this year's budget.
The team responded to 150 calls last year, Wiebe said.
A recent string of armed thefts in a western Manitoba community shows the need for increasing the RCMP team's capacity, Wiebe said.
Announcement 'a distraction': PC MLA
Wayne Balcaen, the Progressive Conservative MLA for Brandon West, said at the legislature Tuesday the province's plan will steal officers from regional RCMP detachments as the force struggles with a staffing crunch in Manitoba.
"They're going to need the experienced members that are out on the street right now to fill these new positions," he said. "These new members, where are they going to come from?"
Balcaen, a former Brandon police chief, said the government's announcement is "a distraction" from the recent thefts in the western Manitoba rural municipality of North Norfolk.
"Manitobans didn't need another funding announcement today," Balcaen said. "What they needed was an arrest of the individuals that are responsible for the crimes that happened."
Wiebe said the province has been in touch with police regarding the recent incidents and is "confident that they're on the right track."
"As we see, you know, some of these increasingly violent circumstances out in community, this is exactly the kind of resources that local law enforcement are appreciative of, because they're getting the backup, they're getting the support that's needed," Wiebe said.
"The message I want to be able to send to Manitobans in rural Manitoba is that we take these issues seriously."
WATCH | Province looks to double staffing at specialized RCMP unit:
With files from Ian Froese