A petition to move forward with a shelved RCMP detachment in Mill Bay has been delivered to the BC Legislature. It was presented by Sonia Furstenau, the MLA for Cowichan Valley.
The previous B.C. Liberal government shelved plans for a new detachment in favour of exploring whether the North and South Cowichan detachments should be amalgamated. The District is expecting a final decision from the province this month.
But Furstenau says the South Cowichan detachment spends much of their time responding to problems on the Malahat, so removing RCMP from the South end puts citizens at risk of not getting emergency service when they need it.
The existing Shawnigan Lake RCMP detachment is in need of rebuilding, and the Cowichan Valley Regional District made land a hectare of land available for the project.
She notes Cowichan is a large geographic region with a growing population and citizens deserve essential services.