The recent announcement that municipalities contracting local police services through the RCMP are being made to pay millions of dollars to the federal government for salary increases has rightly raised concerns from municipal representative organizations.
Whether the federal government is prepared to listen to the concerns and reconsider the matter remains to be seen. What is known is that since the municipalities were not permitted to be part of the bargaining process that lead to the increases, they have a good case to make for not having to carry the costs.
The Alberta Municipalities, which represents municipalities in this region and across the province, says its members should not be forced to come up with the $60 million owed retroactive to April 2017.
“The federal government clearly failed to consider the severe financial repercussions this retroactive pay increase will have on the hundreds of communities that currently count on Alberta’s RCMP to meet their local policing needs,” said association president Cathy Heron.
“It is unfair and unreasonable to expect municipalities to find the additional funds needed to pay for this in their annual budgets.”
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has also called on the federal government to reconsider its recent announcement that municipalities will have to cover the costs.
“Local governments were not at the table for these negotiations,” said FCM president Taneen Rudyk. “The federal government’s refusal to absorb these costs – which were essentially negotiated with municipal money but not municipal input – is not acceptable.”
Municipalities across Canada will be forced to make cuts to essential services or pass along the costs to residents to cover the pay increases, all at a time when families are struggling with skyrocketing cost of living increases, Rudyk said.
Municipalities are prepared to help support policing – but they should also have a say in the associated expense.
That said, RCMP members do play a vital role in keeping residents safe and secure in rural Alberta, including in Mountain View and Red Deer counties.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
