Prince George RCMP sent a third suspect out-of-province this week, making it the first detachment in Western Canada -- if not the entire country -- to do so using federal funding, according to an RCMP spokesman.

The Vancouver Police Department was the first police force to send people arrested in B.C. back to the province where they face charges, under its so-called con-air program.

Prince George now has two planes stationed at its airport to ship suspects out.

The detachment has sent:

  • Paige Van Bree, 46, to Calgary
  • Gordon Thomas Labiberte, 27, to Saskatoon
  • Ricky Dale Lozinski, 47, to Camrose, Alta

Sgt. Perry Smith of the Prince George RCMP told CTV News they want to make it clear criminals are not welcome.

"What we're basically telling people is, Prince George is a great place to live, and people should feel safe here, but people shouldn't use this as a safe haven to hide out from their crimes," he said.

"If (suspects) are here, and they have outstanding warrants in areas that are enforceable, then we're going to act on those warrants and bring them to justice."

But although the VPD first spearheaded the initiative, it has struggled to scrape together enough money for the program because it has not been able to get federal funding.

VPD Chief Jim Chu even went so far as to ask the public to donate Air miles reward miles to cover the cost of the flights.

In March, the South Vancouver Community Policing Centre launched an online petition to garner support, even as the province donated $40,000 toward it.

Police say the province's $40,000 will only cover 20 to 30 of the non-returnable warrants, out of approximately 2500.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan says the city's program should have access to the federal funding, too, because it is the province that benefits.

"It would be right for the federal government to support not only the RCMP jurisdictions, but the city jurisdictions as well," he said.

"I do believe it's unfair those with RCMP policing get these things funded through the federal government ... (it) is clearly a federal issue. I think it would be very appropriate to receive federal funding for this."

But Sullivan says with or without the funding, Vancouver will continue to send the suspects home, at least for now.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Steve Sxwithul'txw and files from The Canadian Press