Alberta RCMP says Smith ‘inaccurate’ about RCMP numbers [Video]

The Alberta RCMP says Premier Danielle Smith was “inaccurate” in statements about the province’s Mounties on Thursday.

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Smith made the remarks at the Alberta Municipalities Convention in Red Deer, while discussing policing needs in the province.

“The RCMP has not been able to fill the need that we have,” Smith said on Thursday.

“We pay for 1,911 officers and they have 400 or 500 vacancies, and we cannot allow for municipal or for rural communities to be under policed.”

On Friday, the Alberta RCMP said Smith was wrong.

“Despite continuous communications with our provincial partners, the current strength of Alberta RCMP officers is regularly miscommunicated, as is our current vacancy rate in Provincial Policing,” the statement read.

According to the Alberta RCMP there are 1,772 officer positions within the provincial policing contract – 139 fewer than Smith claimed.

Of those 1,772 positions, the RCMP …