Town Council reluctantly accepts OPP deal

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?

Town Council reluctantly accepts OPP deal

Postby Thomas » Thu Mar 26, 2015 1:04 pm

Although a vote has not been taken specifically about the issue, St. Marys Town Council appears open to the idea of parting ways with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in favour of a contract with the Stratford Police. But at least for now, the status quo will remain in place.

Councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 17 to accept the recommendation of the Police Service Board (PSB) to renew its contract with the OPP for three years, retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year.

Municipalities across the province were left without ongoing contracts with the policing agency late last year, after the Ministry of Correctional Services announced it would overhaul the way in which they were charged for policing coverage.

The result was, in general, decreased contract totals for areas like St. Marys with lower-than-the-provincial-average calls for service per residence and lower costs-per-call.

Those decreases, however, are being phased in over several years, so when the St. Marys PSB was presented with a proposal by the Sebringville detachment of the OPP earlier this year, the changes in the contract’s first year only represent 40 per cent of the savings that will eventually be realized.

Despite the savings, there is still a level of unease. At the March 17 meeting, Councillor Don Van Galen, one of Council’s two representatives on the PSB, expressed misgivings about the level of service that’s expected from a regional detachment for a town like St. Marys.

“Whether or not how the Sebringville detachment sees meeting these expectations is in keeping with Council’s opinion could be the determination for the future,” Van Galen commented.

Council’s other PSB representative, Mayor Al Strathdee, expressed concern about the availability of avenues for the Town to have input into such issues.

“The term ‘negotiation,’ I believe, is a misnomer in this case,” Strathdee commented. “The province has set the terms, and we’re being expected to accept them.”

With these concerns put before Council about the proposed OPP contract, a unamimous vote in favour might seem surprising. But Van Galen stressed that the two Council representatives on the Town’s PSB represent just that: two members. And the PSB’s other three members, all citizens approved by the province through an application process, vote to recommend accepting the deal.

Reporting to fellow councillors, Van Galen explained the detachment put forward options for six months, or for any of 3, 4 or 5 years. The split PSB vote recommended three years, which Van Galen noted will most likely leave the renewal or rejection of a subsequent contract in the hands of the current Council.

His preference, however, was a six-month contract, or no contract at all. That’s because he’s in favour of renewing talks with Stratford Police. He told Council that serious talks had been undertaken under the previous chair of the St. Marys PSB, Steve Cousins — talks, Van Galen believes, that could be revived because some of the impediments that were then in place are no longer relevant.

He added, however, that he’s now reluctant to push for talks to resume at this point, given that the top administrative leadership at the Town is in flux with the recent departure of both the CAO and treasurer.

Before the vote to accept the PSB’s three-year contract recommendation, Councillor Jim Craigmile offered support for Van Galen’s suggestion, saying Council could take the opportunity during the three years to OPP coverage to explore talks with Stratford.

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