Fred Payton
Prince Albert Historical Society
Change. Why are we so resistant to change? Does it have to do with the new alternative? Is it a reluctance to forego our perceived feeling of comfort? The question recently entered my mind as I came across some stories in the Prince Albert Daily Heralds of February 1917.
The first story was headed “New Police Force”. It began “District Chief O’Sullivan (sp) of the provincial police with headquarters in this city will have thirteen detachments under his direction covering the northern part of the province.” It goes on to list the thirteen communities, as well as enumerating O’Sullivan’s (sp) experience with the provincial police, including his most recent posting at Battleford, and suggests that as time and requirements should prove, there might be more detachments added to those listed. (At this point, I should explain that the newly appointed inspector of the provincial police, Cornelius O. Sullivan, had been a member of the province’s Secret Police prior to the establishment of the Saskatchewan Provincial Police effective January 1st. 1917.)
The second story appeared two days later, under a heading “Mounted Police To Stay In The West”. Issued from Ottawa on February 9th, 1917, it was an assurance from the federal government that the Royal Northwest Mounted Police would not only continue to serve Canadians in western Canada, but that the numbers of officers would be increased. It then went on to explain how this was “rendered necessary by reason of war conditions”. With so many of the police force’s members having enlisted in the armed forces, and the need to concentrate on federal policing, (border security being paramount), the regular policing which the force had been doing since Saskatchewan joined the federation in 1905 had to be discontinued. This announcement followed considerable public feedback to the government in Ottawa, including “petitions from boards of trade and other bodies”. An assurance was contained in the report that this would be merely temporary, and that 4,000 additional members would be added to the federal force in order to maintain border security between Canada and the neutral United States, as well as overseeing the activities of aliens. The federal announcement, while regretting the fear that this has instilled in the settlers of the provinces impacted, suggested their appreciation of the willingness of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan to “consent to the abrogation of the contracts” which provided for policing by the federal force. No mention was made of from where the promised 4,000 additional men would be found.
The aforementioned Saskatchewan Secret Police was a little-known force which was established in 1910 by Premier Walter Scott in order to try to balance the concerns of those settlers who were opposed to the consumption of alcohol, and those settlers who enjoyed (some, perhaps, to extreme) alcoholic beverages. During the first session of the Saskatchewan Legislature in 1906, The Constables Act was passed. This allowed for what amounted to a provincial police force with a chief of police and subordinate personnel. After the passing into legislation of the Labour Act and the Hotels Act in 1910, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police refused to enforce the requirements of these acts. Scott chose to implement the Constables Act and, in consultation with his Attorney-General, Prince Albert’s MLA W.F.A. Turgeon, Charles Augustus Mahoney was appointed by a special Order-in-Council on January 7th, 1911 to head that force. He was allowed two inspectors and ten constables to work with him, as he investigated the illegal sale of beer and spirits in hotels and clubs, as well as the use of children as labourers throughout the province.
By 1912, the Secret Police were stationed in Regina, Assiniboia, and the Battlefords. They primarily enforced the liquor laws in these and surrounding communities, as well as aspects of the Labour Act. The Royal Northwest Mounted Police handled all other regular police functions.
By July 1st, 1915, the provincial government withdrew all bar and club licences, and had control of the wholesale liquor business province-wide to just over twenty stores. This reduced the amount of legal liquor consumed, but increased bootlegging, pilfering from government warehouses and in-transit liquor shipments, as well as the construction of illegal stills.
On December 31st, 1916, policing of the province by the Royal Northwest Mounted Police ended. At midnight, the Saskatchewan Provincial Police assumed policing responsibilities province-wide, and prohibition came into effect.
It is unclear why Mahoney was given a mere nineteen days to create his provincial police force, using the Secret Police as his base. However, he was not asked to do so until December 11th, 1916. Mahoney raided municipal forces from Halifax to Vancouver, attracted some individuals from the Mounted Police, and even added individuals with policing experience in Great Britain. He divided the province into four regions with headquarters in Regina, Weyburn, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. (A fifth region was later added, when the city of Swift Current asked the provincial police to take over policing of their municipality).
Uniforms were ordered, vehicles purchased, as well as weaponry. Smith & Wesson .38 Hand Ejector Specials were bought from the supplier, as were Peerless handcuffs (from Chicago) and night sticks. Two Thompson sub-machine guns were also purchased, and maintained in Regina for use where they might be required.
Forty-five detachments were opened on January 1st, 1917, with forty men on strength to police the 271,700 square miles (703,700 square kilometres) with 800,000 people scattered throughout the most populated of the western provinces. The Prince Albert regional headquarters, with Inspector Sullivan in charge, was located in a rented building which had previously been the Prince Albert Men’s Club. It was perhaps the most lavish of all the buildings housing the Provincial Police, as most of the detachments were located in shacks, while some were located in a room rented in a private dwelling.
By 1920, the force had grown to 175 officers and men. That meant that there was a ratio of one policeman to every 4,060 persons in the province. This compared to a ratio of one to 1,633 persons prior to the war. In 1920, the Provincial Police were responsible for enforcing the Criminal Code, the Prairie Fire Act, Children’s Protection, the School Attendance Act, the Motor Vehicle Act, the Games Act, and the Saskatchewan Temperance Act.
In 1924, the Prince Albert region of the Provincial Police, due to the City’s financial situation after the La Colle Falls debacle, was asked to take over the policing of Prince Albert. The city agreed to maintain two constables, whose salaries they paid, but this proved to be an additional responsibility for an overtaxed region. It was decided that one officer would patrol the city during the day, and the other during the night.
During its tenure as the policing body of Saskatchewan, the local region was responsible for the investigation of three major incidents. The first of these was the Steep Creek murders. Three individuals, a deputy sheriff, a farmer, and a soldier were murdered by the land owner and his two boarders. All three had come from Quebec, the latter two as refugees from conscription. All three were apprehended, tried, and hanged at the provincial gaol. It is believed that that hanging was the only hanging in Canada where three offenders were simultaneously put to death (the three traps on which the men stood were connected to each other, and when the traps were sprung, all three opened at the same time).
The second major incident was the murder of an 18-year old girl named Sadie Mulvihill. She was the daughter of a Royal Northwest Mounted Police officer, Constable Michael James Mulvihill. An individual, Alfred Roberts, was charged with the murder, and convicted of it. Although he claimed innocence right to the end, he was hanged at the gaol. It is believed that some time after his death, another man admitted his own guilt while on his death bed.
The third incident was a major manhunt which occurred east of Tisdale. Four men, all believed to be Americans, had staged two armed robberies in Manitoba and crossed the border into Saskatchewan. They were located by a member of the Prince Albert regional force, and several other men from Prince Albert went out to join in the manhunt. Two of the men were captured, while two had disappeared. They were eventually located in a haystack not far from Tisdale. Each time efforts were made to get them to give themselves up, they fired upon the police. Eventually, after being warned, the police set the haystack in which they were hiding on fire. When the haystack was eventually searched, the men were found dead.
Some of the men involved in these cases were well known in Prince Albert. Mahoney himself was involved in the Steep Creek case, as was Stanley Kistruck. Kistruck was involved in the Tisdale area manhunt, as was Marcel Chappuis, a brother-in-law of artist Adrian Germiquet.
It should be noted that during the existence of the Saskatchewan Provincial Police, not one man was killed in the line of duty. Cornelius Sullivan, the inspector in Prince Albert, died of influenza on December 20th,1918 and is buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery. One officer committed suicide in Saskatoon, and a third officer died of a heart attack while conducting an investigation on a train. Inspector Sullivan was temporarily replaced by Stanley Kistruck, but eventually Robert Rose Scotney was named as the permanent inspector.
The Saskatchewan Provincial Police was dissolved at midnight, Thursday May 31, 1928. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police once again assumed the responsibility for policing the province of Saskatchewan. The Prince Albert constables who had been supervised by the Provincial Police became responsible to the Mounties at that time, until the city re-established his own force.
The reason provided for the dissolution of the provincial force was cost. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police submitted a much lower budget than their provincial counter-parts. However, there are many who believe that the decision was made for political reasons. It is contended that MacKenzie King considered that the provincial force would be less malleable than the federal force, and that he convinced Saskatchewan’s premier, James Gardiner that both governments would benefit if the provincial force was disbanded.
Regardless, the people of the province did not appear to appreciate the change. In the 1929 election, Gardiner was defeated. In the 1930 federal election, King was defeated. Which brings us back to the question, why are we so resistant to change?
fgpayton@sasktel.net
