Whistler is certainly not alone in feeling the pinch of increasing police costs, with municipal leaders banding together this week at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention to send a clear message to the federal and provincial governments that they simply can't handle more police expenses.
More than 150 delegates gathered at a forum on Tuesday (Sept. 28) at the Whistler Conference Centre to discuss the current contract negotiations for RCMP services in B.C. and other Canadian provinces and territories. As well, several resolutions related to RCMP costs and governance were slated to come up for debate and voting at the UBCM convention today (Thursday, Sept. 30).
Whistler's share of police costs has jumped more than 50 per cent over the past five years - from about $1.7 million in 2005 to $2.7 this year, according to information provided by Lisa Landry, the municipality's general manager of economic viability. The biggest reason for the increase is a relatively new RCMP cost - starting in 2007 Whistler has had to kick in a portion for the integrated teams in B.C., such as the Integrated Road Safety Unit and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
The good news from Tuesday's forum is that the federal government has agreed to reduce the local government share of the cost for the integrated teams from 90 to 70 per cent, said Peter Fassbender, mayor of the City of Langley who has observed some of the contract negotiations.
But local governments are being asked to take on the cost of other RCMP items, and Fassbender said the UBCM and individual municipalities need to take a "very strong stance" on the federal government's attempts to further download policing costs onto the Province and local governments.
For example, notice came from federal officials recently that an increase in RCMP pensions is being considered, which would equate to about $4,700 per officer, said Sharon Gaetz, mayor of Chilliwack.
So far at the negotiations table, federal officials have been clear they're not willing to revisit the overall cost-sharing formula for RCMP, Fassbender said. For their part, the Province and local governments have said they won't take on any new costs that aren't part of the current contract. There's still more negotiating to be done, he said.
Fassbender encouraged the forum's attendees to lobby higher levels of government for a reduction in police cost contributions for local governments.
"They need to hear from every single municipality in the province," he said.
A couple B.C. councillors asked the forum's panel about the possibility of creating a provincial police force instead of contracting the RCMP, but the response was that route would be even more expensive.
Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said another issue is that any cost increases need to come with ample notice for municipal budgeting purposes.
Fassbender said that's another area where local governments have won in the contract negotiations: RCMP officials have agreed to start working with five-year financial plans to match municipal planning cycles.
The current 20-year RCMP contract is set to expire on March 31, 2012. Negotiations have been ongoing since 2004, Fassbender said.
Melamed said though he's hopeful that the Province and federal governments might consider taking on a greater percentage of policing costs, he doesn't see much change coming.
"The hope is to keep the escalations at a predictable minimum," Melamed said.
