Last week, the Mass Casualty Commission looking into the mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020 released its final report. The inquiry made a number of recommendations, which included better mental health care, changes to gun control and more.  

One of the items in the recommendation which caught the eye of many in Saskatchewan was the recommendation that Depot Division, the training facility for the RCMP in Regina, be closed. In its place would be a Canadian Police College that would offer a three-year degree program for police officers across the country in an effort to standardize training, and fill in what are considered to be gaps in the training of RCMP officers.  

Chief of Police of the Weyburn Police Service Jamie Blunden was asked his thoughts on the recommendation regarding the closure of Depot, and the creation of a three-year degree program for police officers through the Canadian Police College.  

“If we’re looking at doing away with Depot to go to a three-year degree through CPC, I think the logistics behind it would be a nightmare,” Blunden opined. He noted that it would be three years from when a recruit would be hired by a police service before they would be able to be working in a full capacity as a police officer. This could see a reduction in the number of candidates, and possibly a reduction in the quality of candidates, he suggested. 

“We’re not getting as many candidates as we require (right now) and putting a three-year degree behind the requirement and criteria for someone to get into policing, to me, is outrageous,” Blunden stated. “It’s just going to diminish the amount of pool that we can draw from when it comes down to selection for candidates for policing so overall, if you look at the logistics behind it and how it’s going to fold up, I really have a hard time seeing it.” 

The regimen currently in place for the Weyburn Police Service is to field applications from candidates, and they are then hired. From here, they are sent to the Saskatchewan Police College, where municipal police officers in the province receive their training. Once they successfully complete that training they are then brought into the fold within the police service they were hired from. 

During the entire training process, the police service that hired them continues to pay their salary. Blunden explained there would be a number of financial barriers to the recommended structure which could make things more difficult above and beyond the challenges he already elaborated on. 

If you look at a three-year degree, I mean where did that come in? Do we pay somebody for three years to go to school before we get to use them on the streets?” Blunden asked. “Budgetary restrictions for us would limit the amount of recruits that we could put through on something like that.” 

The recommendation for the closure of Depot Division in Regina has been soundly met with criticism from all sides in Saskatchewan. Premier Scott Moe and NDP leader Carla Beck have both rebuked the recommendation, as have a number of those in the policing community.  

At this point, there has been no indication as to which of the recommendations made by the commission in Nova Scotia will be implemented.