REGINA - The Saskatchewan Marshals Service is reporting it is well ahead of schedule towards being fully up and running.
In a year end update posted on social media, the Marshals Service reported it has “made significant progress” and is now expected to be operational by the summer of 2025, instead of the earlier projection of mid-2026.
According to the statement, the hiring process for experienced police officers is in progress and it is expected these individuals will complete additional training in the new year. New recruit positions will be advertised in early 2025, according to their statement.
The SMS, which will be based out of Prince Albert, says it is also continuing to assess location options to house regional headquarters across the province, with locations to be announced in the first quarter of the new year.
They also say they have also been meeting with partner agencies and stakeholders across Saskatchewan, and working closely with the RCMP and with municipal and First Nation police services.
Meanwhile the opposition New Democrats continue to voice concerns about the Marshals Service. In a news release the NDP accused the head of the Marshals service, Rob Cameron, of “admitting” in an interview with CBC News to ‘poaching’ officers away from frontline policing.
Cameron was quoted as saying the officers recruited have been a bit of a mix, with one from the Ontario Provincial Police and “a few that have come from other police services inside Saskatchewan,” according to the CBC story.
“This is exactly why RCMP officers have been opposed to this and why they warned the Sask. Party against the Marshals,” said NDP Policing and Public Safety Critic Nicole Sarauer in their news release.
“They’re now admitting that they’re recruiting officers away from rural detachments. The Sask. Party is spending millions just to shuffle the deck chairs. If you’re in Wymark or Oxbow, what good is a so-called rural-focused police force that is stationed five to six hours away?”
Sarauer adds that the Sask. Party “should have listened to frontline RCMP officers and rural municipalities and added more frontline RCMP officers on the ground in local communities.”
