# The Mounties and Canada?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mounties-and-canada/832526>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 14, 2019, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mounties-and-canada/832526 "2019-04-14T08:07:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mounties-and-canada/832526/41 "2019-04-16T06:14:19Z")

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> [@rbroome](#):
>
> Are all criminal laws in Canada federal? Can Ontario pass a criminal law (a law that could result in a prison sentence) that is specific to Ontario? Or is all that handled at the federal level? ?

> [@Northern\_Piper](#):
>
> Yes, provinces can pass regulatory offences, like highway traffic, wildlife, municipal offences, securities regulations, environmental offences; and those can be punished with jail sentences in extreme cases. The difference is that the offence can’t be a free-standing one, but tied to a regulatory system, like highway rules of the road, securities marketing regulation, environmental standards.

Excellent answer, **Northern Piper** , but I’ll put a finer point on it, if I may.

**Rbroome** , Ontario cannot pass a criminal law. That privilege is reserved to the federal Parliament (Constitution s. 91(27)). Criminal law is federal, which means that it is uniform across Canada. If convicted of a criminal offense, a person has a criminal record in all of Canada, not just in Ontario or Alberta, or wherever.

Provinces can enact laws that result in provincial offenses (which do not result in criminal records), and **Northern Piper** has addressed this. But they cannot pass criminal laws. There’s really no need to, as the Criminal Code of Canada is quite large, and encompasses pretty much every crime possible.

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**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mounties-and-canada/832526/42 "2019-04-16T12:25:18Z")

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> [@chappachula](#):
>
> and they [sing famous songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts)🙂

[Let me correct that for you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu4krJJkkIs)

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mounties-and-canada/832526/43 "2019-04-18T14:21:25Z")

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Why are Mounties associated with Canada?

Well, when was the last time you saw an FBI agent in full dress serge chasing a bear?

> **[Mountie in red serge chasing black bear from Waterton campground captured on...](https://globalnews.ca/news/3623729/mountie-in-red-serge-chasing-black-bear-from-waterton-campground-captured-on-video/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=Outbrain&utm_campaign=2015)**
>
> Video shows a red serge-clad RCMP officer in hot pursuit of a black bear that made its way into the Waterton Townsite on Monday afternoon.

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