History UsefulNotes / TheMounties

* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal City Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843--sort of. (The historic Montreal Police Department was founded in that year under that name. The SPVM is the result of the consolidation of over 25 police departments in the Montreal urban area, of which the venerable Montreal PD was merely the oldest and largest.) Standard cops carry Glock 19s.

* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal City Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843. Standard cops carry Glock 19s.

* '''Toronto Police Service:''' The third-largest police service in Canada. Founded in 1834, it is the oldest municipal police service in the whole of North America.
* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843. Standard cops carry Glock 19s.

'''Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)''', (nicknamed '''The Mounties'''): [[labelnote:In French]] '''Gendarmerie Royale du Canada (GRC)''' (''Royal Canadian Gendarmerie''), nicknamed '''Police Montée''' (''Mounted Police'')[[/labelnote]] The federal and largest police force of Canada and arguably one of the most famous police forces in the world. It was formed by the merger of the Royal North Western Mounted Police and Dominion Police on December 1, 1920.

Canadian law enforcement is usually always stereotyped as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, for short. In [[CanadaEh fictional depictions of Canada]], they still wear their nineteenth century scarlet tunic and big Stetson hat with riding boots and a leather holster. In actuality, that's their dress uniform for special occasions and there are more than Mounties in Canada to enforce the second-largest land area in the world (there are provincial and municipal police forces). But those, [[WriteWhatYouKnow unless the creators are local]], or are showing their knowledge of Canadian policing, aren't very often seen in media. Let's run down the list, shall we?

Canadian law enforcement is usually always stereotyped as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, for short. In [[CanadaEh fictional depictions of Canada]], they still wear their nineteenth century scarlet tunic and big Stetson hat with riding boots and a leather holster. In actuality, that's their dress uniform for special occasions and there are more than Mounties in Canada to enforce the second-largest land area in the world (there are provincial amd municipal police forces). But those, [[WriteWhatYouKnow unless the creators are local]], or are showing their knowledge of Canadian policing, aren't very often seen in media. Let's run down the list, shall we?

Canadian law enforcement is usually always stereotyped as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, for short. In [[CanadaEh fictional depictions of Canada]], they still wear their nineteenth century scarlet tunic and big hat with riding boots and a leather holster. In actuality, that's their dress uniform for special occasions and there are more than Mounties in Canada to enforce the second-largest land area in the world (there are provincial amd municipal police forces). But those, [[WriteWhatYouKnow unless the creators are local]], or are showing their knowledge of Canadian policing, aren't very often seen in media. Let's run down the list, shall we?

'''Ontario Provincial Police (OPP):''' Obviously, has national and municipal enforcement of law in the province of Ontario. Their main job is to police Ontario's rural areas, which the Mounties would do in other provinces. Most cities like Toronto have a municipal police force. The OPP's role in those areas is thus limited. Formed in 1909, a major policing reshuffle gave the OPP authority over the entire province, relieving the RCMP of most of their duties in Ontario. While they do share some of the attributes of the RCMP, including ranks and headgear (the latter of which was changed in 2008), they are very different in some regards, leading to their lack of portrayal in fictional works. However, they still did get recognition, notably with Music/PaulMcCartney of Music/TheBeatles wearing an OPP patch on his uniform on the cover art of the ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' album. Notably, the OPP and the Sûreté du Québec (see below) were featured in the film ''Film/BonCopBadCop''.

* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843. Standard cops carry Glock 19s. The '''[[SWATTeam Groupe Tactique d'Intervention]]''' [[note]]Tactical Intervention Group[[/note]] meanwhile packs Remington 870s, HK [=MP5s=] and FN P90s. In addition to standard SWAT duties (dealing with mass shooters, hostage takers, barricaded suspects, high-risk warrants, etc...) GTI is also responsible for BombDisposal and diving in waterways to find dead bodies or other things of interest.

In the media, Canadian police tend to be portrayed as being polite and friendly, especially when contrasted with [[UsefulNotes/AmericanLawEnforcement their American counterparts]]. They also have a reputation for being effective, with the old saying that "The Mountie AlwaysGetsHisMan". The Mounties are portrayed more than any other Canadian police force, even though they have little role in Canada's largest cities and provinces. They're a staple of the CanadianWestern genre, however. For instance there is Benton Fraser in ''Series/DueSouth'', who is essentially WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight's in costume, often wearing the Red Serge uniform, and manners with the near-superhuman competence of Franchise/JamesBond. However, the long-running Canadian series, ''The Series/{{Beachcombers}}'', has the regular character, Constable John Constable, who is a somewhat more realistic Mountie who wears the actual RCMP regular duty uniform. The Toronto Police service’s SWATTeam is the focus of the TV show ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}''

Federal forces:
* '''Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)''', (nicknamed '''The Mounties'''): [[labelnote:In French]] '''Gendarmerie Royale du Canada (GRC)''' (''Royal Canadian Gendarmerie''), nicknamed '''Police Montée''' (''Mounted Police'')[[/labelnote]] The federal and largest police force of Canada and arguably one of the most famous police forces in the world. It was formed by the merger of the Royal North Western Mounted Police and Dominion Police on December 1, 1920. The North Western Mounted Police (the Royal was added in 1904) was famous in its own right for its role in helping bring order to northwestern Canada in the 19th century, much as sheriffs did in the American West. Initially, the Mounties did make a good first impression with the various Native American nations, such as dealing with the notorious whiskey traders ravaging the population, although further activities soured that relationship. The old (R)NWMP rode horses; the modern day "Mounties" only ride horses at ceremonial occasions, so the name is an ArtifactTitle.

** Their iconic dress uniform is known as the 'Red Serge' - a Stetson up top, a scarlet tunic, midnight blue (no, not black) breeches with bulges above the knee, a yellow stripe down the sides, and riding boots, spurs completely optional. This is worn at parades but rarely on duty; expect almost all works that feature Mounties to neglect this, either accidentally or [[RuleOfFunny purposefully]].[[note]]The dress uniform ''used to be'' the everyday uniform, but that was many, many years ago: the Red Serge was officially designated as a dress uniform in 1920.[[/note]] The 'everyday uniform' consists of a grey shirt, identical trousers and a peaked cap. They also have international jurisdiction and have conducted police operations in places like Afghanistan and Haiti.
** Befitting their mounted origins, and somewhat unusually for a police force, they hold the ceremonial military status as a regiment of dragoons due to many members serving overseas in wartime. This means the RCMP is entitled to carry battle honours on parade. RCMP members have also mounted the Life Guard in London on two occasions.
** The force's reputation used to be sterling up until the 1970s, but its various actions and abuses came under scrutiny that lead to a Royal Commission called the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP, aka The [=McDonald=] Commission in which lead to permanent bruising of its reputation with evidence of illegal surveillance of political dissent, forging documents and even burning down a private citizen's barn. Eventually, the commission's report lead to the RCMP being stripped of its counter-intelligence duties which were transferred to the newly formed Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
** The RCMP has a somewhat poor reputation in India due to their mishandling of the investigation into the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 “Kanishka” from Toronto to New Delhi. The attack was perpetrated by Sikh separatists who had emigrated to Canada to avoid prosecution by Indian authorities. Many victims of the bombing were Canadian citizens of Indian origin, who were not even acknowledged as Canadian by the government, and the RCMP’s investigation into the Sikh community in BC yielded almost no prosecutions of the real culprits. This combined with revelations that the RCMP had audio recordings of the conspirators planning the attack, but failed to prevent the bombing [[note]] CSIS and RCMP’s focus on the Sikh community in BC was geared towards preventing the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during a state visit to the US, and once that visit concluded, resources were diverted elsewhere [[/note]], was a heavy blow to the Mounties’ reputation in India.
** In contemporary times, particularly after the murder of George Floyd in the US, there have been complaints that RCMP constables have committed serious violent abuses of power of their own, particularly against First Nations people. In fact, First Nations activists have complained that that Mounties are still doing what they see as the organization's original purpose: to oppress them and keep them subjugated off their own land for the Colonizers' economic purposes. The fact that the RCMP Commissioner struggled to articulate a denial about systemic racism running through the force proved another embarrassment when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau openly contradicted her and forced her to retract her denial. This is not including earlier allegations of sexual harassment and bullying of female members of the force, resulting in even more bad press and difficulties in recruitment.
* '''Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)''': [[labelnote:In French]] '''Agence des Services Frontaliers Canadiens'''[[/labelnote]] Responsible for patrolling the country's borders and enforcing immigration and customs policies.

Provincial forces:
* '''Ontario Provincial Police (OPP):''' Obviously, has national and municipal enforcement of law in the province of Ontario. Their main job is to police Ontario's rural areas, which the Mounties would do in other provinces. Most cities like Toronto have a municipal police force. The OPP's role in those areas is thus limited. Formed in 1909, a major policing reshuffle gave the OPP authority over the entire province, relieving the RCMP of most of their duties in Ontario. While they do share some of the attributes of the RCMP, including ranks and headgear (the latter of which was changed in 2008), they are very different in some regards, leading to their lack of portrayal in fictional works. However, they still did get recognition, notably with Music/PaulMcCartney of Music/TheBeatles wearing an OPP patch on his uniform on the cover art of the ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' album. Notably, the OPP and the Sûreté du Québec (see below) were featured in the film ''Film/BonCopBadCop''.
* '''Sûreté du Québec (SQ):''' (there is no official English name—it translates to "safety/security of Québec"). Formed in 1870, they have authority over the entire Francophone province of Quebec, with moderate to major differences with both the RCMP and OPP. Like the OPP, major policing reshuffles in 1929-1930 within the force changed the structure of the force as a whole, and gave the force, then known as the Police provinciale du Québec, a new name: Sûreté provinciale du Québec, later renamed to what it is today.
* '''Royal Newfoundland Constabulary:''' Newfoundland and Labrador is much smaller than Ontario and Quebec but it is the only other province to have a provincial police force. Unlike the OPP and Sûreté, it is responsible for policing the urban areas of Newfoundland, while the Mounties police the countryside. It has a long history that dates back to 1729 and is the oldest police force of any kind in North America.

Canadian law enforcement is usually always stereotyped as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, for short. In [[CanadaEh fictional
depictions of Canada]], they still wear their nineteenth century scarlet tunic and big hat with riding boots and a leather holster. In actuality, that's their dress uniform for special occasions and there are more than Mounties in Canada to enforce the second-largest land area in the world (there are provincial amd municipal police forces). But those, [[WriteWhatYouKnow unless the creators are local]], or are showing their knowledge of Canadian policing, aren't very often seen in media. Let's run down the list, shall we?

Canadian law enforcement is usually always stereotyped as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, for short. In actuality, there are more than Mounties in Canada to enforce the second-largest land area in the world. But those, [[WriteWhatYouKnow unless the creators are local]], or are showing their knowledge of Canadian policing, aren't very often seen in media. Let's run down the list, shall we?

* '''Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)''', (nicknamed '''The Mounties'''): [[labelnote:In French]] '''Gendarmerie Royale du Canada (GRC)''' (''Royal Canadian Gendarmerie''), nicknamed '''Police Montée''' (''Mounted Police'')[[/labelnote]] The federal and largest police force of Canada and arguably one of the most famous police forces in the world. It was formed by the merger of the Royal North Western Mounted Police and Dominion Police on December 1, 1920. The North Western Mounted Police (the Royal was added in 1904) was famous in its own right for its role in helping bring order to northwestern Canada in the 19th century, much as sheriffs did in the American West. Initially, the Mounties did make a good first impression with the various Native American nations, such as dealing with the notorious whiskey traders ravaging the population, although further activities soured that relationship. The old (R)NWMP rode horses; the modern day "Mounties" only ride horses at ceremonial occasions, so the name is an ArtifactTitle. Provincial governments can decide whether to contract the RCMP to police rural areas. Most do, with the exceptions of Ontario and Quebec, where the Mounties' role is limited to mostly protecting federal property[[note]]"Rural area" is defined as a town or township with a low population, so it's not unusual to see RCMP officers in suburban towns that just don't have a lot of people[[/note]].

** In "Daltons in the Blizzard", Luke cooperates with a standard-issue Mountie who manages to instantly stop a BarBrawl by telling the fighters to knock it off, go to the nearest station and turn themselves in. When one protests that the station is three days away, the Mountie gives them a DeathGlare and they immediately run off. The Daltons are stupefied at the idea o a single lawman covering such a huge territory and yet being respected.
** A more antagonistic version appears in "The Klondike", where he behaves lie a MeddlesomePatrolman. He ends up confiscating Jolly Jumper who gets rid of him by abandoning him ''somewhere in Antarctica''.

* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'':
** In "Daltons in the Blizzard", Luke cooperates with a standard-issue Mountie who manages to instantly stop a BarBrawl by telling the fighters to knock it off, go to the nearest station and turn themselves in. When one protests that the station is three days away, the Mountie gives them a DeathGlare and they immediately run off. The Daltons are stupefied at the idea o a single lawman covering such a huge territory and yet being respected.
** A more antagonistic version appears in "The Klondike", where he behaves lie a MeddlesomePatrolman. He ends up confiscating Jolly Jumper who gets rid of him by abandoning him ''somewhere in Antarctica''.
* ''Film/HoldUp'': A BankRobbery happens in UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}} and the leader of the gang outsmarts the police at every turn. Later, when the gang tries to flee, they bump into mounted police in a forest.

* ''Film/HoldUp'': A BankRobbery happens in UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}} and the leader of the gang outsmarts them at every turn. Later, when the gang tries to flee, they bump into mounted police in a forest.

* In ''VideoGame/DisneyMagicKingdoms'', during the ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' Event, Miriam mentions that she remembers doing a unit on the Mounties in history class the previous year.

* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843. Standard cops carry Glock 19s. The '''[[SWATTeam Groupe Tactique d'Intervention]]''' [[note]]Tactical Intervention Group[[/note]] meanwhile packs Remington 870s, HK MP5s and FN P90s. In addition to standard SWAT duties (dealing with mass shooters, hostage takers, barricaded suspects, high-risk warrants, etc...) GTI is also responsible for BombDisposal and diving in waterways to find dead bodies or other things of interest.

Is not the life for me.

* '''Ontario Provincial Police (OPP):''' Obviously, has national and municipal enforcement of law in Ontario province. Their main job is to police Ontario's rural areas, which the Mounties would do in other provinces. Most cities like Toronto have a municipal police force. The OPP's role in those areas is thus limited. Formed in 1909, a major policing reshuffle gave the OPP authority over the entire province, relieving the RCMP of most of their duties in Ontario. While they do share some of the attributes of the RCMP, including ranks and headgear (the latter of which was changed in 2008), they are very different in some regards, leading to their lack of portrayal in fictional works. However, they still did get recognition, notably with Music/PaulMcCartney of Music/TheBeatles wearing an OPP patch on his uniform on the cover art of the ''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' album. Notably, the OPP and the Sûreté du Québec (see below) were featured in the film ''Film/BonCopBadCop''.

* '''Service de police de la Ville de Montréal:[[note]]Montreal Police Service[[/note]]''' The police force for Canada's second largest city. Established in 1843. Standard cops carry [[CoolGuns/HandgunsAToL Glock 19s]]. The '''[[SWATTeam Groupe Tactique d'Intervention]]''' [[note]]Tactical Intervention Group[[/note]] meanwhile packs [[CoolGuns/{{Shotguns}} Remington 870s]], [[CoolGuns/SubmachineGuns HK MP5s]] and [[CoolGuns/SubmachineGuns FN P90s]]. In addition to standard SWAT duties (dealing with mass shooters, hostage takers, barricaded suspects, high-risk warrants, etc...) GTI is also responsible for BombDisposal and diving in waterways to find dead bodies or other things of interest.

I should've joined the Coast Guard.

You may have noticed that the RCMP is called a "gendarmerie" in French. Traditionally, a gendarmerie is a military force assigned police duties within a civilian population. The name is an [[TheArtifact artifact]] of the early days of the North Western Mounted Police, which had military-like duties, although separated from the [[UsefulNotes/CanucksWithChinooks Canadian Army]]. Even when the organization became all civilian, the name stuck.

** In contemporary times, Particularly after the murder of George Floyd in the US, there have been complaints that RCMP constables have committed serious violent abuses of power of their own, particularly against First Nations people. In fact, First Nations activists have complained that that Mounties are still doing what they see as the organization's original purpose: to oppress them and keep them subjugated off their own land for the Colonizers' economic purposes. The fact that the RCMP Commissioner struggled to articulate a denial about systemic racism running through the force proved another embarrassment when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau openly contradicted her and forced her retract her denial. This is not including earlier allegations of sexual harassment and bullying of female members of the force, resulting still more bad press and difficulties in recruitment.

In the media, Canadian police tend to be portrayed as being polite and friendly, especially when contrasted with [[UsefulNotes/AmericanLawEnforcement their American counterparts]]. They also have a reputation for being effective, with the old saying that "The Mountie AlwaysGetsHisMan". The Mounties are portrayed more than any other Canadian police force, even though they have little role in Canada's largest cities and provinces. They're a staple of the CanadianWestern genre, however. For instance there is Benton Fraser in ''Series/DueSouth'', who is essentially WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight's in costume, often wearing the Red Serge uniform, and manners with the near-superhuman competence of Franchise/JamesBond. However, the long-running Canadian series, ''The Series/{{Beachcombers}}'', has the regular character, Constable John Constable, who is a somewhat more realistic Mountie who wears the actual RCMP regular duty uniform. The Toronto Police service’s SWATTeam is the focus of the TV show Series/{{Flashpoint}}

In the media, Canadian police tend to be portrayed as being polite and friendly, especially when contrasted with [[UsefulNotes/AmericanLawEnforcement their American counterparts]]. They also have a reputation for being effective, with the old saying that "The Mountie AlwaysGetsHisMan". The Mounties are portrayed more than any other Canadian police force, even though they have little role in Canada's largest cities and provinces. They're a staple of the CanadianWestern genre, however. For instance there is Benton Fraser in ''Series/DueSouth'', who is essentially WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight's in costume, often wearing the Red Serge uniform, and manners with the near-superhuman competence of Franchise/JamesBond. However, the long-running Canadian series, ''The Series/{{Beachcombers}}'', has the regular character, Constable John Constable, who is a somewhat more realistic Mountie who wears the actual RCMP regular duty uniform.

** The RCMP has a somewhat poor reputation in India due to their mishandling of the investigation into the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182 “Kanishka” from Toronto to New Delhi. The attack was perpetrated by Sikh separatists who had emigrated to Canada to avoid prosecution by Indian authorities. Many victims of the bombing were Canadian citizens of Indian origin, who were not even acknowledged as Canadian by the government, and the RCMP’s investigation into the Sikh community in BC yielded almost no prosecutions of the real culprits. This combined with revelations that the RCMP had audio recordings of the conspirators planning the attack, but failed to prevent the bombing, was a heavy blow to the Mounties’ reputation in India.

** The RCMP has a somewhat poor reputation in India due to their mishandling of the investigation into the 1986 bombing of Air India Flight 182 “Kanishka” from Toronto to New Delhi. The attack was perpetrated by Sikh separatists who had emigrated to Canada to avoid prosecution by Indian authorities. Many victims of the bombing were Canadian citizens of Indian origin, who were not even acknowledged as Canadian by the government, and the RCMP’s investigation into the Sikh community in BC yielded almost no prosecutions of the real culprits. This combined with revelations that the RCMP had audio recordings of the conspirators planning the attack, but failed to prevent the bombing, was a heavy blow to the Mounties’ reputation in India.

* '''Ontario Provincial Police (OPP):''' Obviously, has national and municipal enforcement of law in Ontario province. Their main job is to police Ontario's rural areas, which the Mounties would do in other provinces. Most cities like Toronto have a municipal police force. The OPP's role in those areas is thus limited. Formed in 1909, a major policing reshuffle gave the OPP authority over the entire province, relieving the RCMP of most of their duties in Ontario. While they do share some of the attributes of the RCMP, including ranks and headgear (the latter of which was changed in 2008), they are very different in some regards, leading to their lack of portrayal in fictional works. However, they still did get recognition, notably with Music/{{Paul McCartney}} of Music/TheBeatles wearing an OPP patch on his uniform on the cover art of the Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand album. Notably, the OPP and the Sûerté Du Québec (see below) were featured in the film ''Film/BonCopBadCop''.
* '''Sûreté Du Québec (SQ):''' (there is no official English name—it translates to "safety/security of Québec"). Formed in 1870, they have authority over the entire Francophone province of Quebec, with moderate to major differences with both the RCMP and OPP. Like the OPP, major policing reshuffles in 1929-1930 within the force changed the structure of the force as a whole, and gave the force, then known as the Police provinciale du Québec, a new name: Sûreté provinciale du Québec, later renamed to what it is today.

In the media, Canadian police tend to be portrayed as being polite and friendly, especially when contrasted with [[UsefulNotes/AmericanLawEnforcement their American counterparts]]. They also have a reputation for being effective, with the old saying that "The Mountie AlwaysGetsHisMan." The Mounties are portrayed more than any other Canadian police force, even though they have little role in Canada's largest cities and provinces. They're a staple of the CanadianWestern genre, however. For instance there is Benton Frazer in ''Series/DueSouth'', who is essentially WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight's in costume, often wearing the Red Serge uniform, and manners with the near-superhuman competence of Franchise/JamesBond. However, the long-running Canadian series, ''The Series/{{Beachcombers}}'', has the regular character, Constable John Constable, who is a somewhat more realistic Mountie who wears the actual RCMP regular duty uniform.

** Their iconic dress uniform is known as the 'Red Serge' - a Stetson up top, a scarlet tunic, midnight blue (no, not black) breeches with bulges above the knee, a yellow stripe down the sides, and riding boots, spurs completely optional. This is worn at parades but rarely on duty; expect almost all works that feature Mounties to neglect this, either accidentally or [[RuleOfFunny purposefully]][[note]]The dress uniform ''used to be'' the everyday uniform, but that was many, many years ago: the Red Serge was officially designated as a dress uniform in 1920[[/note]]. The 'everyday uniform' consists of a grey shirt, identical trousers and a peaked cap. They also have international jurisdiction and have conducted police operations in places like Afghanistan and Haiti.