7.4.1 Police

Police have two main duties: keeping people safe and enforcing the law. Many kinds of situation call for their help. Ask for it after an accident. Ask for it if somebody has stolen something from you, or if you have been the victim of an assault. Ask for it when a crime happens in front of you, or when someone you know goes missing. Turning to the police is normal and expected. At the Aboriginal Day Flotilla, an Ottawa police constable was photographed helping a young boy - officers are there for the public.

Canada does not rely on a single police force. Different forces cover different levels of government. Ontario and Quebec each have their own provincial police force. Municipal police departments exist in every province, covering cities and towns, so the officer who answers a local call is often a municipal officer. Which force you deal with depends on where you live and on what kind of law is involved. Two provinces are worth memorising here, because they are the exceptions in several rules: Ontario and Quebec run provincial forces of their own.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, usually shortened to RCMP, is the national force. It enforces federal laws right across the country. The RCMP also carries out a second job: it acts as the provincial police force in every province and territory apart from two — Ontario and Quebec, which run their own. On top of that, some municipalities are policed by the RCMP rather than by a local department of their own. So across much of Canada, the same force covers federal work, provincial work and local policing at the same time.