Copied from start of article:
OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police could one day transform into a federal police agency that operates more like the FBI under an ambitious but controversial concept that has gained new traction in the nation’s capital, the Star has learned. The idea that the RCMP should get out of the business of front-line, day-to-day policing — duties the Mounties now carry out under contracts to provinces — and shift its focus to challenges like national security, terrorism, financial crimes, cybercrime or organized crime, is not a new one.
I can see why the RCMP would want to get out of policing contracts, especially in remote rural areas. Provinces cut/freeze the policing budgets, so the RCMP reduce the number of officers/local detachments, response times go up, politicians blame the RCMP. Rince and repeat.
With provincial or municipal police forces, poor policing lands squarely on the municipality/province.