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The Royal Canadian Mounted Police ('''RCMP''' or '''Mounties'''; ) is both the Federal Police force and the National Police of Canada . INTRODUCTION tunic with Stetson hat and the Musical Ride and Equitation. On Canada Day annually, they perform on Parliament Hill in Ottawa .]] The RCMP acts as the federal (national) police for all of Canada, enforcing certain federal laws. It also has contracts with Canada's three Territories and eight of its Provinces to serve as their provincial/territorial police force. Most of Canada's provinces, while constitutionally responsible for law and order, prefer to sub-contract policing to the RCMP. They consequently operate under the direction of the provinces in regard to provincial and municipal law enforcement. The exceptions are Ontario , Quebec , and parts of Newfoundland And Labrador , which have retained their own provincial police forces. Additionally, many towns and cities throughout Canada also contract the RCMP to serve as their municipal police force. The RCMP is the largest police force in Canada; As Of April 2005 , the RCMP had an on-strength establishment of 22,557 personnel Organization of the RCMP . The RCMP was created as the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873 , given the "Royal" title in 1904 , becoming the '''Royal North West Mounted Police''' (RNWMP). In 1920 it was renamed to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Force when the RNWMP was merged with the Dominion Police . Among themselves, the Mounties universally refer to their organization as "The Force" and members of the force are referred to as "Members." It has been theorized that the international popularity of the force lies in it being representative of a symbol of the balance of civilization and the frontier. That is, the RCMP is a police force that operates in the seemingly wild frontier, but operates under the behest of a central, if somewhat removed, bureaucratic authority back in the settled regions. In addition, the existence of the RCMP in Canada and the complete lack of any analogous organization in the Western United States during the frontier period has often been cited as both a cause and effect of cultural differences between Canada and the United States. The RCMP are possibly the most widely recognised symbol of Canada internationally, both for good and ill. Canadians in general and members of the Force in particular are proud of the international reputation of the RCMP for probity and integrity; on the other hand, Canada appears to have the reputation in the U.S.A. and the U.K. for an excess of order and decorum, and in that context the RCMP is both a help and a hindrance, depending on whether that image is thought desirable. In general, however, Canadians scorn their American and British friends' attitudes in this regard and delight both in the image of the RCMP and in their country's reputation for civility and order. HISTORY .]] The RCMP was created as the North West Mounted Police ('''NWMP''') on May 23 , 1873 by Sir John A. Macdonald , the first Prime Minister Of Canada , with the intent of bringing law and order to (and asserting Canadian sovereignty over) the North-West Territories (which then included modern day Alberta , Nunavut and Saskatchewan ). This need was particularly urgent with reports of American whisky traders, in particular those of Fort Whoop-Up , causing trouble in the region, culminating in the Cypress Hills Massacre . The force was initially to be called the North West Mounted Rifles, but that was rejected as too military in nature, Macdonald fearing that this could antagonize both the First Nations and the Americans. Acting on a suggestion in his cabinet, Macdonald had the force wear red uniforms. The force was organized like a British Cavalry Regiment and still maintains some of the traditions of those units, like the well known, Canadian Musical Ride , to this day. Initial activities The initial force, commanded by , 2005 . An account of the journey was recorded in diary of Henri Julien , an artist from the Canadian Illustrated News, who accompanied the expedition. The Diary of Henri Julien Modern historians have theorized that failure of the 1874 "March West" would not have ended the Canadian federal government's vision of settling the country's western plains, but would have delayed it for many years. In particular, a failure would have encouraged the Canadian Pacific Railway to seek a route for its transcontinental railway that went through the well-mapped and partially settled valley of the North Saskatchewan River , touching on Prince Albert, Battleford and Edmonton. There would have been no economic reason for the creation of cities like Brandon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hat and Calgary. That, in turn, would have tempted American expansionists to make a play for the Canadian Prairie s' flat, empty southern regions. In effect, the history of Canada would have been radically different had French and his men failed. The NWMP's early activities included containing the Whisky trade and enforcing agreements with the First Nations peoples. To that end, the Commanding Officer of the force arranged to be sworn in as a Justice Of The Peace , which allowed for magisterial authority in the Mounties' jurisdiction. In the early years, the force's dedication to enforcing the law on the First Nations peoples' behalf impressed them enough to encourage good relations. In the Summer of 1876 Sitting Bull and thousands of Sioux were fleeing the US Military to southern Saskatchewan , and James Morrow Walsh of the NWMP was charged with maintaining control in the large Sioux settlement at Wood Mountain . Walsh and Sitting Bull became good friends, and the peace at Wood Mountain was maintained. In 1885 , the NWMP helped to quell the North-West Rebellion led by Louis Riel . Klondike Gold Rush and after , 1900 .]] In 1894 , concerned about the influx of American miners and the liquor trade, the Canadian government sent inspector Charles Constantine to report on conditions in the Yukon . Constantine correctly forecast a coming gold rush and urgently recommended sending of a force to enforce Canadian sovereignty and collect customs duties. He returned the following year with a force of 20 men. The force distinguished itself during the Klondike Gold Rush (started in 1896 ) under the command of Constantine and his successor in 1898 , the more famous Sam Steele . The NWMP made the Klondike gold rush one of the most peaceful and orderly such affairs in history. The NWMP not only enforced criminal law, but also collected customs duties, established a number of rules such as the "ton of goods" requirement for prospectors to enter the Yukon to avoid another famine, mandatory boat inspections for those wanting to travel the Yukon River , and created the "Blue ticket" used to expel undesirables from the Klondike. The Mounties did tolerate certain illegal activities such as Gambling and Prostitution , which they would have been unable to control in any case. Also, the force did not succeed in its attempt to establish order and Canadian sovereignty in Skagway, Alaska at the head of the Lynn Canal , and instead created the customs post at the summit of the Chilkoot Pass . Ironically, the force's dissolution was being discussed around that time in Parliament , but the Mounties' conduct so impressed the prospectors during the gold rush that the force became famous around the world and its survival was ensured. In 1903 jurisdiction was extended to the Arctic coast, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905 , and in 1912 to northern Manitoba . During the Second Boer War , the force raised the Canadian Mounted Rifles, mostly from NWMP members, for service in South Africa . For the CMR's distinguished service there, Edward VII honoured the NWMP by changing the name to the Royal North West Mounted Police ('''RNWMP''') on June 24 , 1904 . In 1919 the RNWMP was used to repress the Winnipeg General Strike , when officers fired into a crowd of strikers, killing two and causing injuries to thirty others. Creation of the RCMP .]] On February 1 , 1920 the RNWMP was merged with the Dominion Police and was renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, with responsibility for federal law enforcement in all provinces and territories. In 1935 the RCMP, collaborating with the Regina city police, crushed the On-to-Ottawa Trek , which had been organized to call attention to the need for decent treatment of the unemployed men in the relief camps. Evolving responsibilities In the (died 1996 ). The Commission recommended that the force's intelligences duties be removed in favour of the creation of a separate intelligence agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) . In 1932 men and vessels of the Preventive Service, National Revenue, are absorbed , creating the RCMP Marine Section The acquisition of the RCMP Schooner '' St. Roch '' facilitated the first effective patrol of Canada's Arctic territory. It was the first vessel to navigate the Northwest Passage from west to east ( 1940 – 42 ), the first to navigate the Passage in one season ( 1944 ), and the first to circumnavigate North America ( 1950 ). In 1993 the RCMP's counter-terrorism duties, performed by the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT), were transferred to the Canadian Armed Forces , creating a new unit called Joint Task Force Two (JTF2). JTF2 inherited some equipment and SERT's former training base near Ottawa . Modern era .]] See Also: Rochfort Bridge massacre On March 3 , 2005 , four RCMP officers were shot dead during an operation to recover stolen property and investigate a possible Marijuana Grow-op in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta . Shooter Jim Roszko, 46, then shot and killed himself. It was the single worst multiple killing of RCMP officers since the Northwest Rebellion . One of the four Mounties killed had been on the job for only seventeen days. The victims were:
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