Alberta bill aims to streamline new police service, domestic violence act and inmate transfers

The province tabled a bill Thursday that brings an Alberta Sheriffs Police Service closer to becoming operational.

The Alberta legislature has tabled a new bill that would make changes to the province’s new independent police service, domestic violence laws and inmate procedures.

Bill 4, or the Public Safety and Emergency Services Statutes Amendment Act, was introduced by public safety Minister Mike Ellis on Thursday afternoon.

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The most changes will come to the Alberta Sheriffs Police Service (ASPS), first created in July of this year as the province’s independent police service. The province says it’s working to establish the service’s organization and operations.

“When we announced the creation of the ASPS, the goal was very clear: to strengthen the public safety across the province by augmenting and supporting law enforcement while also giving municipalities another choice in how they meet their law enforcement needs,” Ellis told media on Thursday afternoon.

Bill 4 would build on a labour relations framework for prospective sheriffs and would ensure all new ASPS officers fall under the Police Officers Collective Bargaining Act, which currently governs municipal police services.

This means the ASPS, excluding non-police workers, would use a police association for collective bargaining and would not fall under the Public Service Employees Relations Act or the Labour Relations Code.

Bill 4 would also define ASPS officers as police officers in the Workers’ Compensation Act. They would also be labelled as first responders, meaning ASPS police and their families would be eligible for certain compensations in cases of death, injury or psychological damages.

Under Bill 4, the Police Act would also expand to allow any permanent resident to become an ASPS police officer. The province says that’s an expansion to the recruitment pool.

Ellis said “there is no decision that has been made” about the certainty of an Alberta police force, but the goal of the ASPS would be to bolster those doing “police-like” functions, like peace officers.

“As we build this police service and they become trained police officers …. those individuals will be able to work with the police of the jurisdiction in order to assist and take calls of service.”

He added the province expects a “series of pieces of legislation” about the topic.

Clare’s Law

The Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act is also known as Clare’s Law. It lays out the rights of domestic violence survivors to ask and know information about potentially harmful partners.

Its name comes from Clare Wood, a United Kingdom woman killed by an ex-partner who had a documented history of violence against women which Wood had been unaware of.

The proposed bill would aim to strengthen the Integrated Threat and Risk Assessment Centre by giving them clear legal authority to access and disclose information.

Corrections Act

The province wants to create a better framework for transferring inmates between jurisdictions and says changes to the Corrections Act would align Alberta’s correctional system with those of other provinces and territories.

Bill 4 would give the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services the power to enter agreements with other jurisdictions across the country to transfer adult inmates or offenders sentenced under a provincial or territorial statute.

Alberta already has similar agreements for those sentenced under federal legislation. The new bill’s changes, the province said, would apply to cases where an offender has charges in other jurisdictions or can’t appear in local court due to emergencies like wildfires.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch