WHEREAS the Government of Canada has made the decision in Budget 2023 to make municipalities responsible for all retroactive costs stemming from the latest RCMP collective bargaining agreement; and
WHEREAS these extraordinary one-time costs, which in some jurisdictions amount to millions of dollars, will cause significant hardship for communities and residents across the country, and were negotiated without meaningful consultation or a seat at the table for the municipalities responsible for paying the bill; and
WHEREAS 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; and
WHEREAS 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; and
WHEREAS going forward, it is critical that municipalities be proactively engaged in any forthcoming processes related to contract policing to prevent this occurring again; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Courtenay join the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in calling 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; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the City of Courtenay convey this support in writing to our Member of Parliament, Gord Johns, the Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendocino, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.