WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; French: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; GRC), commonly known in English-speaking areas as the Mounties, is the federal and national police service of Canada. As police services are the constitutional responsibility of provinces and territories, the RCMP’s primary responsibility is the enforcement of federal criminal law, and sworn members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. However, the force also provides police services under contract to eight of Canada’s provinces (all except Ontario and Quebec), all three of Canada’s territories, more than 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. In addition to enforcing federal legislation and delivering local police services under contract, the RCMP is responsible for border integrity; overseeing Canadian peacekeeping missions involving police; managing the Canadian Firearms Program, which licenses and registers firearms and their owners; and the Canadian Police College, which provides police training to Canadian and international police forces. The force has faced criticism for its broad mandate, and since the early 2020s, several governments, politicians, and scholars have recommended terminating the RCMP’s contract policing program. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was mandated to conduct a review of RCMP contract policing when he took office in 2022.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has long enjoyed an international cultural influence, appearing in films, television shows, and books since its formation in the early 20th century. The Government of Canada considers the RCMP to be an unofficial national symbol, and in 2013, 87% of Canadians interviewed by Statistics Canada said that the RCMP was important to their national identity. Canadian public opinion of the RCMP as an institution, however, has gradually soured since the 1990s, after several high-profile scandals, costly internal harassment lawsuits, staffing shortages, and the force’s mishandling of the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks. A 2022 Angus Reid survey found that 41% of Canadians had little or no confidence in the RCMP, while only 37% of Canadians served by a provincial police force had little or no trust in their provincial police. The study also found that the RCMP as a whole was less trusted compared to municipal police forces or individual RCMP detachments.

The two most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, operate independent provincial police services, which, like the RCMP, are responsible for some provincial law enforcement and providing local police services under contract. The other eight provinces and all three territories contract at least some policing responsibilities to the RCMP, which provides front-line policing in those provinces under the direction of the provincial governments. Municipalities, which are responsible for police services in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, can contract for RCMP services through their provincial government, or by direct contracts. Thus, the RCMP provides police services at the federal, provincial, and municipal level. In some areas of Canada, it is the only police force.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

In the United States, National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed on the third Friday in September. It honors those who were prisoners of war (POWs) and those who are still missing in action (MIA). It is most associated with those who were POWs during the Vietnam War. National Vietnam War Veterans Day is March 29, the date in 1973 when the last US combat troops departed the Republic of Vietnam.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day

Observed each year on the third Friday in September, this is a time for Americans to honor the service and sacrifice of those who have been prisoners of war (POW) or are still missing in action (MIA). It is also a time to recognize how difficult this is for their families, to honor their courage, and to offer support. The day also serves to renew the commitment to account for all those missing from past wars and conflicts, and to work toward locating the remains of fallen soldiers and returning them home for burial.

Independence Day (Mexico)

Question of the Day

Why doesn’t all the popcorn pop when you pop it in the microwave?

All the kernels would pop if you gave them enough time. The trouble is, if you did that, the first ones to pop would be burned. Kernels pop by virtue of their moisture content, their size, and the thickness of their shells. So if you could find a bag in which all the kernels were exactly the same in those ways, all of your popcorn would pop at once.

Advice of the Day

To clean aluminum, rub it with lemon and salt, then rinse.

Home Hint of the Day

Basic tools to outfit a home workshop — Part II: 12-tpi (tooth per inch) hand crosscut saw for fine work, 1/2-inch wood chisel, 1-inch wood chisel, smooth plane, combination sharpening stone, and 18-inch spirit level.

Word of the Day

Spring Tide

A tide of increased range that occurs at times of syzygy each month. Named not for the season of spring but from the German springen (“to leap up”), a spring tide also brings a lower low water.

Puzzle of the Day

Complete, I am an ill-placed zephyr; behead me, and I am floating logs; behead me again, and I am part of a ship. (What word fits the first clue? Follow the directions to form new words from it.)

Draft – raft – aft

Died

• Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (physicist) – 1736
• Maria Callas (opera singer) – 1977
• Mary Travers (singer of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary) – 2009

Born

• James C. Penney (department store founder) – 1875
• Allen Funt (producer) – 1914
• Ursula Franklin (physicist and educator) – 1921
• Lauren Bacall (actress) – 1924
• B.B. King (musician) – 1925
• Peter Falk (actor) – 1927
• Ed Begley, Jr. (actor) – 1949
• Robin Yount (baseball player) – 1955
• David Copperfield (magician) – 1956
• Molly Shannon (actress) – 1964
• Marc Anthony (singer) – 1969
• Amy Poehler (actress) – 1971
• Alexis Bledel (actress) – 1981
• Madeline Zima (actress) – 1985
• Nick Jonas (singer and actor) – 1992

Events

• U.S. Great Seal used for first time– 1782
• James Pierpont’s Jingle Bells” (originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh”) was copyrighted”– 1857
• Supreme Court of Saskatchewan established, Regina, Saskatchewan– 1907
• William Durant incorporated General Motors Corp. in New Jersey– 1908
• American Legion incorporated– 1919
• Many people reported seeing lake monster Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan, British Columbia– 1926
• Edward Elliott caught a 97-pound blue catfish in the Missouri River near Vermillion, South Dakota– 1959
• The New Metropolitan Opera House opened in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. (On October 22, 1883, the Old Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York City on Broadway between 39th and 40th Streets.)– 1966
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police began training women troopers– 1974
• Montreal Protocol (about ozone) signed by 24 countries– 1987
• Sam Ackerman (age 101) married Eva Powers (age 95), New Rochelle, New York– 1990

Weather

• Iowa had its earliest recorded snowfall; between 4 to 6 inches falling in Stuart– 1881
• The San Felipe Hurricane struck Palm Beach, Florida, dumping 18 inches of rain there.– 1928

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