"Scott Weiser" wrote in message ...
A Usenet persona calling itself Paul Skoczylas wrote:


Well, I believe the RCMP does also enforce federal and province laws in the
vast largely uninhabited areas of Canada, including Indian reservations.

In all provinces other than Ontario and Quebec, that would be correct. ON and QC have their own police forces which enforce the
laws in the remote parts of their territories. None of the other provinces have chosen to form their own police forces, though they
do have the authority to do so. Many Indian reservations have their own police forces. Those that don't would hire the RCMP in
most provinces, or the provincial police in ON and QC.

It says on the RCMP website: "We provide a total federal policing service to all Canadians and policing services under contract to
the three territories, eight provinces, approximately 198 municipalities and, under 172 individual agreements, to 192 First Nations
communities." Note that it specifically says "under contract" for provinces, territories and municpalities, and
"under...agreements" for the reservations. Contracts and agreements can be terminated.

So
tell me, does the RCMP have jurisdiction to take control of a major case in
the event the locals aren't (or can't) handle it?

My understanding is that they would NOT have such jurisdiction in the vast majority of cases. There would be likely be some
exceptions (I believe smuggling across international borders is RCMP's exclusive jurisdiction, for example). Enforcing the national
criminal code (including murder, kidnapping, etc) is the exclusive responsibility of the provinces. Note that municipalities exist
at the pleasure of the provinces (not the feds), and are not enshrined in the constitution, so the *provincial* solicitor general
would have the authority to grant jurisdiction in any specific case to a different police force (which could be the RCMP, or the
provincial force where there is one, or it could be a force from a neighbouring municipality) if he/she feels a municpal police
force was not up to the task for that case. The RCMP does not have the authority to make that decision themselves.

Moreover, I suspect that in those areas where the locals do not have local
cops, the RCMP maintains jurisdiction to enforce, at the very least, federal
and province laws.

Where there is no local force, the provincial force prevails. Outside ON and QC, that means the RCMP, but at the pleasure of the
provinces, which do have the authority to form their own forces if they wanted to.

-Paul