RCMP union challenges bilingualism claim in province's Alberta Next survey
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The union representing RCMP officers is disputing that its members do not have the opportunity to advance to senior roles unless they speak French, as claimed in the preamble to a new Alberta government survey.
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On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith launched the province's 15-member Alberta Next panel along with corresponding online engagement questionnaires.
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The panel is seeking feedback on measures Alberta could pursue to further assert itself against the federal government, with an initial focus on an Alberta pension plan, tax collection, immigration, constitutional changes, federal transfers including equalization, and a provincial police force.
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The panel's website has individual polls for each of those issues that can only be taken following a short animated video.
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'Because of French-language requirements, English-speaking Alberta officers do not qualify for senior RCMP positions,' states the narration for the video prior to the survey on a provincial police force.
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The survey doesn't define what constitutes a senior position.
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In a statement to Postmedia, the National Police Federation (NPF) president and CEO Brian Sauvé challenged the survey's claim.
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'As we've seen previously, the government of Alberta continues to mislead Albertans about the benefits of the Alberta RCMP,' he said.
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'In its campaign, the government falsely claims that English-only members are barred from advancing to any senior ranks tied to government requirements. Unfortunately, this is yet another instance of the province spreading misinformation.'
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The NPF is Canada's largest police union, representing 20,000 RCMP members, and has also been a longtime opponent of a potential provincial police force.
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'The National Police Federation is wrong,' reads a statement from Ellis's office. 'The RCMP has previously confirmed that all deputy and assistant commissioner positions in Ottawa are designated bilingual, as are senior positions held by civilians within senior staff.'
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