OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, once a proud symbol of Canadian law and order, is now an institution in crisis. Reports that nearly 20 percent of members are off on sick leave confirm what many of us who have served and worked alongside the RCMP have known for years: the force is no longer capable of fulfilling its federal policing mandate.
Instead of standing at the forefront of the fight against transnational organized crime, terrorism financing, cybercrime, and foreign interference, the RCMP is bogged down in contract policing, backfilling gaps with temporary duty assignments, and diverting precious resources to VIP security. What was once a national force is now an overstretched patchwork, trying—and failing—to be all things to all people.
h/t SC
