Will more money mean better service from the RCMP in the Yukon?

“Studies show that there is no consistent association between police spending and crime rates in municipalities in Canada,” NDP MLA Lane Tredger told the legislature last Thursday.

“How will the increase in the RCMP budget help community safety?”

They noted that in their downtown riding, community safety issues are top of mind.

“This is not an either or situation,” Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said.

She noted that the 2024-25 budget has funding for the RCMP, the substance use health emergency, and community safety.

(The budget includes $3.2 million for upgrades and improvements to detachments and an additional $1.7 million for RCMP operations.)

For downtown Whitehorse, she said, there is now the Moccasin mobile outreach van (supported by the Council for Yukon First Nations), a new temporary warming space in the Jim Smith Building, expanded food services, and an increase to $2.26 million for implementing the government’s Substance Use Health Emergency Strategy.

“We must support the RCMP for the services that they provide across the territory, including in our communities across the North, and we must also support the social programs,” McPhee said.