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Towns calling for new police funding model

Alberta municipalities are petitioning the provincial government for a more equitable funding model for how policing services are paid for.
Scott Roberts stands outside the Okotoks RCMP detachment in 2015. The Alberta Association of Police Governance is calling for equitable police funding province-wide.
Scott Roberts stands outside the Okotoks RCMP detachment in 2015. The Alberta Association of Police Governance is calling for equitable police funding province-wide.

Alberta municipalities are petitioning the provincial government for a more equitable funding model for how policing services are paid for.

The Town of Okotoks was part of a letter-writing campaign last month advocatinf for a new funding model for RCMP services in the province, sending letters of concern to Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Kathleen Ganley, and Highwood MLA Wayne Anderson.

Scott Roberts, protective services director for the Town of Okotoks, said the Alberta Association of Police Governance (AAPG) has been fighting for a the change for more than six years.

“The association has been lobbying the government continually,” said Roberts. “This new letter to Minister Ganley is to request the NDP takes a fresh look at the issue as a new government.”

The issue is how cost of policing services is divided among Albertans, he said.

Currently, small communities with a population less than 5,000 do not pay for policing services. The Province covers 30 per cent of police costs in Towns with a population between 5,001 and 15,000.

For municipalities like Okotoks, with a population higher than 15,000 people, the Province only subsidizes 10 per cent, and municipalities with their own police services, such as Taber, are not subsidized at all.Please add a sentence in here to say what the Town pays for police services in Okotoks.

“So those residents are paying for their own police service but also subsidizing other police services through their provincial taxes,” said Roberts.

The Provincial government made no announcements regarding policing in its budget last spring, he said, indicating they are maintaining funding models of the previous government for the time being.

The Association asked municipalities to endorse their letters to the Province and the MLAs in December, but Roberts said it is only a request to open the issue without any suggested action at this time.

“They don’t seem to propose a solution of what equitable police funding may look like, but they’re hoping the new government will take a look” said Roberts. “Whatever happens, we’re at the mercy of the provincial government.”

A statement from the AAPG referenced a document released by the PC government in 2010, the Law Enforcement Framework, which stated: “The cost of policing in Alberta should be shared in an equitable manner among Albertans and Alberta communities.”

The letter further said law enforcement funding should be “flexible, predictable, sustainable and equitable (and) consider municipality size and ability to pay.”

According to the AAPG, the NDP government has since set aside the previous document in favour of developing its own policing views. The association hopes it will be heard as the government sets its policies.

“The issue is whether policing costs should be borne by all Albertans in an equitable way,” the AAPG said in a written statement. “Why should some Albertans pay for policing when others do not?”

The development of an equitable policing funding model would ensure all Albertans pay for law enforcement services in some way, the association said.

Though the details of what possible changes would look like are yet unknown, the AAPG hopes the NDP government will take action.

“It is our understanding that the current Minister of Justice and Solicitor General is open to the conversation,” the AAPG wrote. “This is a positive step and one that will, hopefully, provide a resolution to the issue in the near future.”

In a written statement, Minister Ganley said the NDP government recognizes the importance of the issue and will be looking at which model will best fit Alberta’s needs.

“We are committed to supporting policing today and for the future – any changes to the costing model down the road will come after careful consideration,” Ganley wrote. “All Albertans deserve to live in safe and resilient communities.”

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