Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish with a veterans' license plate (Government of Alberta)

By Justin Goulet/LethbridgeNewsNOW

RCMP members with minimum three years experience now eligible for veterans’ license plates in Alberta

Nov 10, 2020 | 11:08 AM

EDMONTON, AB – The province has answered a call from the Royal Canadian Legion.

Following the fatal shooting of three RCMP officers in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2014, the legion updated its definition of the term “veteran.”

Members of both the RCMP and legion have been asking the Alberta government to follow suit since September 2015. On Tuesday, that ask was answered, with a focus on the veterans’ license plate program in Alberta.

The expanded eligibility criteria for veterans’ license plates now includes active and honourable discharged members of the RCMP, to align with the Legion’s expanded definition of “veteran.”

Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with a minimum of three years of active service can now receive a veterans’ license plate in Alberta.

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The announcement comes just ahead of Remembrance Day.

“Every year at this time, Canadians from coast to coast to coast remember the brave women and men who put themselves at risk to fight for our freedoms and our safety,” said Minister of Service Alberta Nate Glubish.

“Recognizing members of the RCMP as veterans is a small action Alberta’s government can take to show our gratitude for their service.”

In addition to active and honourable discharged members of the RCMP, the veterans’ license plates can be issued to:

• Alberta residents who have been honourable discharged after serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, an allied force or the merchant marine.
• Alberta residents who have been released from the Canadian Armed Forces under Sections 3(a) or 3(b).
• Currently serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces with a minimum of three years of active service.
• Those who have served or are currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves with a minimum of three years of paid service.
• Members of Canadian police forces who served under NATO of the United Nations.

“Each and every day, our men and women in uniform risk their lives to keep our commitments and our families safe,” said Brad Rutherford, military liaison to the Canadian Armed Forces and MLA for Leduc-Beaumont.

“The expansion of this criteria, at the request of the Royal Canadian Legion, supports the invaluable work they do to care for our veterans and honours the continued contributions from Royal Canadian Mounted Police members.”

The veterans’ license plate program launched in Alberta in 2005 and since, more than 28,000 plates have been issued across the province.

“While our history with Canada and its battles is long, it is more likely that people will recognize us as the Mounties they see on patrol all over rural Alberta,” said Sgt. Maj. Leilani Collins, warrant officer with the Alberta RCMP.

“We are as proud of our service in those communities we serve today as we are of our sacrifices on the battlefields of the past. The Alberta RCMP appreciates the Royal Canadian Legion for this recognition, as well as Service Alberta for implementing this change.”

More on license plates in Alberta, including veterans’ plates, can be found here.

The province’s announcement can be viewed below.