Dominion Police
The Dominion Police, although the federal police of Canada, was mainly active in the Eastern Canada region, while the Royal Northwest Mounted Police handled the expansive and sparsely populated Northwest Territories of Western Canada. In May 1918, the 969-member Dominion Police was reassigned under the Department of Militia and Defence and became a civilian wing of the Canadian Military Police Corps (CMPC). In the early 1900s, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police had declined as the Northwest Territories was divided into new provinces and territories, and due to the general unpopularity of the force for conduct during industrial disputes such as the Winnipeg General Strike. On 1 February 1920, the civilian members of the CMPC, including the Dominion Police, were merged with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as the new federal police force of Canada, and the CMPC was disbanded on 1 December 1920.
Dominion Police
The Dominion Police Force was created on 22 May, 1868, in response to the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, a prominent Irish-Canadian politician and MP for Montreal West, in Ottawa on 7 April. McGee was killed by elements of the Fenian Brotherhood, a powerful Irish nationalist organisation based in the United States, in the new federal capital of Canada less than a year after the country was formed by the Confederation. The Canadian authorities were worried about the power of the Fenian Brotherhood, which had already launched three major raids into Canada in 1866 before McGee's death, and that existing law enforcement agencies were not capable of protecting state security. The Dominion Police was formed as the first federal police force with jurisdiction over the entirety of Canada, built from the Western Frontier Constabulary which had been in existence since 1864. Its primary purpose was as the police force for protecting buildings of the Federal Government of Canada, including the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill, the naval yards at Halifax and Esquimalt, providing bodyguards for government leaders, carrying out secret service work arising from the activities of the Fenian raids, and enforcing certain federal laws such as those relating to counterfeiting and human trafficking. The Dominion Police also had responsibility for keeping the peace for specified railways and canals that were under construction when the "Public Works Peace Preservation Act, 1869" was brought into force. They gradually also acquired responsibilities for compiling fingerprint and criminal records, and administering a parole service.