Prince George City Council is joining the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in calling on the federal government to consult with local governments on RCMP policing costs in the future.
“We are proud to join with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in advocating for greater transparency and consultation with RCMP charges,” said Mayor Simon Yu.
“It is important that the federal government work collaboratively with local governments to ensure that policing services costs are handled fairly.”
City Council approved the call at last night’s (Wednesday) meeting.
“RCMP Officers should be paid a fair wage, that’s not the issue, they unionized, that’s fair,” said Councillor Garth Frizzell.
“When they were negotiating the latest contract, the federal government didn’t get our input into it, and we’re the ones paying the bill.”
In Prince George, the city will have to spend $5.374 million to cover the retroactive pay covering 2017 to 2023.
The city has set aside $5.269 million to cover most of that cost, but Council has decided to use the remaining funds from the Safe Restart Grant ($2.969 million) to partially meet that sum.