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“We see that as something we may have to look at in Saskatchewan,” Orb said during the panel.

Orb referenced the Alberta government’s move to increase trespassing fines in response to an incident when protesters entered a Hutterite colony near Lethbridge in September. The fine for trespassing on agricultural land was increased up to $10,000 for a first offence, double that of the fine under Saskatchewan’s revised law.

A statement from the Ministry of Justice said the province is aware of the Alberta government’s proposed changes, and will monitor how its proposals unfold.

Orb said SARM will wait and see how much of a deterrent the new trespassing law is once put into practice.

“We’re hoping that it makes a difference. We hope it helps,” said Orb.

RCMP’s number of vacant positions the lowest in years

One of the concerns often expressed by rural residents has been RCMP staffing levels.

During the panel, the RCMP revealed its number of vacant positions has reached a record low. Many hard vacancies, which are positions that had been sitting empty for a long period of time, have now been filled.

“We’re almost fully stacked up as far as the province goes,” said Chief Supt. Alfredo Bangloy, criminal operations officer for the RCMP’s F Division in the province.

Bangloy said it’s the lowest vacancy rate the RCMP has seen in “many years.” The RCMP could not provide the exact number of current vacancies.

The RCMP’s training facility, Depot, received approximately 90 cadets in the first half of this year.