ABSTRACT
This study is intended to describe the institutional framework of RCMP Security and intelligence work at the force's inception in February 1920. The context of the First World War and the Canadian labour revolt of 1917-20 are assumed. 1 Beginning with an institutional reconstruction of the internal workings of the new security apparatus, I then turn to the force's relations with other security agencies and with other government departments. Throughout this institutional reconstruction, readers should keep in mind that the evolution of the RCMP as the key Canadian institution in the realm of security intelligence was a series of accidents far more than any considered plan on anyone's part. Indeed the continuing existence of the force itself was often in doubt in the years under consideration. In 1917 it appeared that the force was being phased out and had no post-war future. The post-war labour revolt provided it the chance, as one of its romantic chroniclers termed it, to rise 'phoenix-like' from the ashes. 2 Even after the creation of the new RCMP from the merger of the Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) and the Dominion Police (DP) in February 1920, its prospects were less than great. A number of provinces showed little enthusiasm for a federal police force with a nation-wide presence. Indeed, the federal Liberal Party's support for the force was an open question and in the aftermath of the 1921 election many questions were asked about the force's utility. For example, in 1922 during the debate to create a new unified Department of National Defence, the proposed legislation placed the RCMP under DND control. Ironically, only the expression of civil libertarian concerns for maintaining the separation of policing from the military and the necessity of Progressive support for the minority Liberal government ensured the ongoing separate existence of the RCMP as a civilian agency. 3
