Nova Scotia·NewHalifax police board members say they have many questions about upcoming policing changes in the province, and how exactly those changes will be paid for.Province has said changes will take years to be implementedHaley Ryan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 02, 2025 5:34 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoThe Halifax police board provides oversight to both Halifax RCMP and Halifax Regional Police. (CBC)Halifax police board members say they have many questions about upcoming policing changes in the province, and how exactly those changes will be paid for.On Wednesday, the Halifax board of police commissioners discussed major changes the Nova Scotia government is making to improve policing in the province. Most of the changes are the result of a Deloitte review released in June.The review suggested Nova Scotia should create a provincial police force offering both special services and local policing to better serve the public. The Progressive Conservative government has said it will focus on expanding the RCMP to fill that need, rather than creating a new police force — at least at first.”Still a lot of, I would say question marks around timing and detail,” said Bill Moore, the city’s commissioner of public safety.Moore said he has asked for more information from the justice department on some of the proposed changes, including a shared records system for all police services, and what exactly “layered policing” would look like in Nova Scotia.Bill Moore is commissioner of public safety for Halifax. (CBC)The review describes that model as hiring special constables or bylaw officers to handle traffic or other non-crisis incidents, freeing up sworn officers to focus on police work.Other changes include auditing police services on new standards, and creating a new billing formula under which municipalities pay for the RCMP.”That could come with sweeping changes that are very definitive to our policing services, that can have a huge impact. Of course cost is associated to that,” said Coun. Becky Kent.”There needs to be more clarity as we move forward,” said Halifax Regional Police Chief Don MacLean.The province has also promised new community safety boards that would complement the existing commissions for municipal police departments, and advisory boards for communities contracting the RCMP.These boards were not a recommendation from the Deloitte review. The province has said they will provide civilian oversight for a broader range of public safety concerns than just policing, but it’s unclear how many there will be, what their powers would be, and who would sit on them.Kent said community safety boards may be a welcome addition in rural areas where RCMP advisory boards have struggled to keep members, or municipalities had to be reminded to have them at all.Board hopes to keep flexibility, local inputBut some commissioners said Halifax’s board, which includes police leadership, councillors, civilians with various backgrounds, a policy strategist and community safety staff, is essentially a community safety board.The Halifax police board has supported the city’s move toward civilian responses for dealing with people who are homeless, intoxicated in public, or in mental-health crisis.”My biggest concern with the report is that it may take away from flexibility at a local level,” said commissioner Vincent Beswick-Escanlar.A Halifax staff report also said it is unclear how using the RCMP as the lone force in Nova Scotia would improve community oversight of policing, because RCMP advisory boards are “significantly limited” compared to boards of police commissioners. Oversight of the Mounties will always be limited “given that the RCMP is a federal body that receives direction from Ottawa,” the report said.Kent said she would bring the concerns to an upcoming Nova Scotia Association of Police Governance (NSAPG) conference.The NSAPG has sent multiple letters to the justice department over the past few months, saying they are opposed to expanding the RCMP’s role without “compelling evidence” the force can improve in rural areas.”Staffing disparities remain acute, particularly in RCMP-policed regions. We encourage the [Department of Justice] to publish clear criteria and timelines for achieving parity and to consult with police boards on staffing allocations,” association president Virginia Brooke wrote to all MLAs on Sept.15.The justice department has said it will continue to consult with municipalities and police services as the changes unfold.ABOUT THE AUTHORHaley Ryan is the municipal affairs reporter for CBC covering mainland Nova Scotia. Got a story idea? Send an email to haley.ryan@cbc.ca, or reach out on Twitter @hkryan17.
Halifax police board raises concerns about province’s proposed policing changes
