Town council at its recent meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Impact from RCMP retroactive costs

Town wants input in future RCMP contract policing decisions

Apr 17, 2023 | 12:15 PM

Town of Battleford council is expressing its concerns about a lack of support from the federal government in the 2023 budget for retroactive RCMP costs.

Town council approved a resolution for the municipality to join the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to call on the federal government to commit to ensuring that local governments “are meaningfully consulted, fully informed and at the table on issues related to policing costs, given the municipal role in keeping our communities safe.”

North Battleford city council approved a similar resolution recently.

Town of Battleford Deputy Mayor Doug Laing, who chaired the town’s meeting, read the FCM’s proposed resolution for municipalities that said paying RCMP retroactive policing costs to 2017, without help from the federal government, will cause significant hardship to municipalities across Canada.

He stated the federal government made a decision in its 2023 budget to make municipalities responsible for all retroactive costs stemming from the latest RCMP collective bargaining agreement.

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“Municipal governments are already paying a growing share of policing costs, but unlike other orders of government, cannot run deficits to spread out the impact of these extraordinary one-time sums, and have limited revenue tools,” the resolution stated. “Local governments will now be forced to make difficult decisions that will impact residents, such as cutting essential services, reducing policing levels, raising property taxes significantly, and/or cancelling work on local infrastructure, at a time when Canadians’ concerns about community safety and the cost of living are already rising.”

The Town will also convey its support of the resolution in writing to local MPs.

Town CAO Ash Alam said administration recommended council approve the proposed resolution.

“Policing costs are going to be significantly higher according to the increase they have from 2017, the retro-payment,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a topic [for] SUMA [Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association] to mention.”

Coun. David George mentioned “We don’t know what the costs are going to be yet, the community,” on the local impact.

Council approved the resolution as recommended.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW