Permanent Force

Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Acceptance as a Permanent Force, 1885-1919

Introduction to Permanent Force

After the rebellion, the government quickly increased the force's strength to 1000. A new commissioner, Lawrence W. Herchmer, was appointed with a mandate to improve the force's structure and operations.

The Mounties had been intended as a temporary force that would disappear when settlement was complete, and by the 1890s Parliament was being urged to save money by terminating the force. The Liberal Party won office in the 1896 federal election with a pledge to disband the Mounties. However, they soon discovered that the force was popular in the West. Renewed tensions between indigenous peoples and settlers also increased pressure to maintain the Mounties' presence. When Saskatchewan and Alberta became provinces in 1905, they arranged with the North-West Mounted Police to act as the provincial police.

In 1896 the force dispatched 20 officers to the Yukon upon hearing of gold discoveries in the Klondike region. The next year the Klondike gold rush brought hordes of prospectors. The presence of a Mountie detachment, increased to 250 by 1899, ensured that a potentially chaotic situation was in fact orderly and law abiding. By the beginning of the 20th century, the force also moved into other parts of the far north, establishing a post north of the Arctic Circle at Fort McPherson in 1903 and another on the western shore of Hudson Bay. The Mounties asserted Canadian sovereignty and enforced law and order over Canada's last frontier.

During World War I (1914-1918), the force-now called the Royal North-West Mounted Police-took on national duties in the areas of security and intelligence. However, its provincial role was interrupted in 1917 when Alberta and Saskatchewan passed Prohibition laws, which outlawed the sale of alcoholic drinks. Commissioner A. Bowen Perry declared prohibition unenforceable and canceled the policing contracts for the two provinces. The strength of the force dwindled further as its members were recruited into the military. Many, including Perry, believed it would not last into peacetime.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

Information about Permanent Force in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Permanent Force

Law is our Passion

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This entry was last updated: August 24, 2014