Policing hammering whole riding

Obscenely high and unsustainable policing costs. OPP bills are destroying communities its officers are supposed to protect. Apparent self-interest is cloaked in the guise of public safety needs. Where is the political outrage while OPP costs continue to climb? Who is going to bring policing costs in this province under control?

Policing hammering whole riding

Postby Thomas » Fri Feb 20, 2015 4:59 am

ALMAGUIN – Talk of the Almaguin Highlands Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) costs has raised some concerns from our local Parliament representatives.

Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Norm Miller said the increase has been a problem for a few years.

“It’s been a big issue for a couple of years now,” he said. “There have been some minor changes but it’s still really negatively affecting Parry Sound-Muskoka.

“It hurts any municipality with a lot of seasonal residents.”

Miller said there have been large increases for the same level of service provided by the police.

“The whole riding saw a $7 million increase and Parry Sound saw a $5 million increase for the same level of policing,” he said. “It’s a huge role for small municipalities to take on.”

Miller isn’t confident municipalities can absorb the costs.

“I don’t think they are able to [absorb the costs] and that’s not fair.”

Miller said McDougall Township near Parry Sound is looking to amend the Police Services Act.

“[McDougall] is asking for a change in the model,” he said. “They are asking for 40 per cent base cost and then 60 per cent calls for service.”

Currently municipalities can only be serviced by police services bordering their geographical area. McDougall is proposing letting councils have more freedom in choosing the most cost-efficient plan for them.

“It’s a bigger issue,” Miller said. “Costs are generally getting too expensive. We have to have a serious look at overall police costs.

“We have to have a serious look at all aspects of operation and see how they can deliver services more efficiently.”

From Feb. 22 to 25, the Rural Ontario Municipal Association is holding a meeting for rural municipalities in Ontario. There, they have the opportunity to ask questions, meet with ministers and educate the government on what rural Ontario needs and is looking for.

“There, [municipalities] can let the government know what this is going to mean for budgets and taxes for municipalities,” Miller said.

Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli said the increases have to do with the current government.

“This is absolutely typical of the Liberal government in almost everything they’ve done within the last 10 years,” he said. “It’s called ready, fire, aim. They load up, they send out some kind of a missile, and then figure out how wrong it was and try to backtrack to fix it up. It’s the ready, fire, aim.”

“They decimate all these industries in these regions and then try to figure out how to fix it and the same thing happened with the OPP policing costs. It went out without consultation and made a massive change to how the bills are going to apportion and then are surprised that municipalities are hurting.

“We would encourage the government to look at these solutions for municipalities that are facing these extreme cost increases for policing.”

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