The RCMP is betting $1 billion against a move to a provincial police force

The government's major project inventory report is a useful look at big capital projects being built or considered.
The news releases always go a little overboard - the latest one celebrates $198 billion in projects "planned or underway." Planned is a bit of overstatement; the list includes, for example, a gravel quarry near Port Alberni that has been counted in the inventory since 2004 without moving out of the planned category.
Still, it's a valuable snapshot.
The latest release also notes that the largest project underway is the "the $966-million RCMP E-Division Headquarters in Surrey." The building is a private-public partnership. The private partners get almost $1 billion and agree to build the centre and maintain it for 25 years.
But the RCMP wouldn't need 2,700 people in its B.C. headquarters if it wasn't delivering municipal and regional police services across the province. Which suggests the force is very confident the the government will sign another 20-year contract when the current agreement expires in 2012