The North-West Mounted Police

• Who are the North-West Mounted Police and what were their duties in the Yukon?

  The North-West Mounted Police were forerunners of today's Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Their duties were to:

  • Enforced federal law in the West and the Arctic from 1873 - 1920.
  • Secure Canadian sovereignty.
  • Prepare the West for Settlement. This meant removing or relocating Indigenous peoples.
  • Suppress rebellions.
  • Stop the whiskey trade.
  • Bring order to the Gold Rush.
• Why were the North-West Mounted Police dispatched and what were the implications?

  The North-West Mounted Police – consisting of 20 men at the time – were dispatched to the Yukon to eliminate chaos and lawlessness.

  • Miners' meetings had been successful in maintaining public order, however, lost relevance due to the NWMP.
  • They failed to enforce order beyond what already existed. However, the power of the NWMP was limited compared to the meetings.
• What is the symbolic and instrumental functions of law?

  The symbolic and instrumental functions of the law are:

  1. Symbols: (1) uses the law to make a public statement, (2) designates public norms and community values, and (3) does not require enforcement to have effects.
  2. Instrumental: (1) intended to control behaviour, (2) requires the law's enforcement, and (3) actively solves disputes among citizens.
• What was the symbolic and instrumental functions of the NWMP in the Yukon?

  The NWMP were symbolic and instrumentally functioned:

  • Symbolic: (1) Demonstrated normative order and the (2) rule of law, and (3) symbolised class dominance as stratification occured.
  • Instrumental: (1) Miner's meetings served an instrumental purpose, (2) settled criminal and civil matters, and (3) the NWMP did not address civil matters or improve the efficiency of law.