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Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne harbours mixed feelings about his city’s police chief accepting the same position in Saskatoon.

Troy Cooper was introduced Wednesday at Saskatoon City Hall as the man who will replace Clive Weighill, who led the Saskatoon police force for 11 years.

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“All I can say to Saskatoon is they hired the best police chief in the province of Saskatchewan,” Dionne said in a phone interview after the announcement. “And, unfortunately, it was from the city of Prince Albert.”

Photo by Liam Richards / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Dionne confirmed he served as one of Cooper’s references for the job and called him a “community leader.”

Cooper, 52, brings three decades of experience in policing, including six years as police chief in Prince Albert. He starts his five-year contract in Saskatoon on Feb. 28.

Cooper confirmed he is a Metis from the northern Saskatchewan town of Big River, but downplayed his Indigenous background.