FUND THE MOUNTIES

It no doubt came as a shock to many Canadians to learn this week from
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli that the Mounties lack the
resources to target much more than one-third of Canada's serious
organized crime activity. But it should not have. The warning signs
have been there for years, ignored by the federal government at our peril.

As far back as 1998, Commissioner Zaccardelli's predecessor was
issuing similar warnings. "We're not resourced to really have a
serious, concerted attack on organized crime," Philip Murray said at
the time, complaining that the RCMP was reduced to little more than
"putting out fires." And because the Mounties were so underfunded, he
complained, they could afford to target no more than one organized
crime group at one time -- leaving other crime syndicates to
effectively run free while police went after biker gangs. Later that
year, it was revealed that one of the RCMP's most successful busts --
the arrests of members of the Cuntrera-Caruana gang, one of the
world's leading crime families -- almost did not happened because the
operation ran out of money and had to be propped up by Ontario's
criminal-intelligence service.

Last year, federal Auditor-General Sheila Fraser fleshed out the
Mounties' problems in considerably more detail. The force, Ms. Fraser
indicated, was understaffed by as many as 1,000 officers. Because it
lacked enough officers to adequately staff communities and aboriginal
reserves, the RCMP had to divert officers from its national force --
thereby undermining its efforts to crack down on organized crime.
Training facilities were inadequate to provide the requisite number
of officers to avoid further shortfalls; moreover, those new officers
who joined the force often did so after inadequate training. And
because the RCMP didn't always fill in for officers on long-term
absences, Mounties wound up overburdened and placed in dangerous
situations without backup.

It's true that, after cutbacks in the 1990s, federal politicians have
clearly recognized that the Mounties need more resources -- hence the
doubling of their budget in recent years. But with the new challenges
posed by increasingly sophisticated organized crime networks and by
international terror groups -- some of which may be intertwined --
even the additional funding in insufficient. It is simply not good
enough that there are only approximately 100 Mounties covering 89
airports and 30 officers at our 19 marine ports. Nor can officer
shortages persist at their current levels, with vacancy rates as high
as 25% in some units.

Internationally, and even to some extent within Canada, the Mounties
are known more for their historical and symbolic value than their
current duties. But their renewed effectiveness is essential not just
to ensuring safe communities, but to our domestic security. They are,
in many regards, our best line of defence -- particularly when it
comes to international terror threats.

To its credit, the new Conservative government significantly
increased funding for the RCMP in last week's budget -- promising
$37-million for the expansion of training facilities, and an
anticipated $136-million for more officers. But while that's a start,
it cannot simply be a one-off: To help keep Canadians safe, the
Mounties need much more support that they've been getting.