City of Moncton dealing with significant retroactive RCMP costs

MONCTON -

Construction continues on a new headquarters for the Codiac Regional RCMP that is costing the city of Moncton $57.2 million, but that isn't the only policing cost the city is dealing with right now.

The city will also have to pay over $5 million in retroactive pay costs going back to 2017.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities [FCM] is disappointed Tuesday's federal budget has decided to not contribute to this un-budgeted cost to Moncton and other cities across Canada. 

FCM president Taneen Rudyk said it’s completely counter-intuitive to expect municipalities who have limited resources and tools to be able to generate revenue to come up with after the fact and pay a bill the organization was not a party to negotiating.

“It's not fair,” said Rudyk from Edmonton. “What that means is that we do not have the tools to be able to run a deficit and we certainly do not have the ability to be able to find this money without making difficult choices and Moncton would be no different.”

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said the city is disappointed that the federal budget did not include a commitment to absorbing the retroactive costs associated with the recent RCMP collective bargaining agreement.

“Local governments did not get a seat at the table during negotiations and as a consequence the Federation of Canadian Municipalities had asked that the federal government help mitigate some of the impact of these unexpected, and significant, additional costs,” said Arnold in an email.

Arnold said in the city’s case, the Codiac Regional Police Authority, which represents Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview, received an invoice Thursday for more than $5.3 million.

“While the policing authority has developed a plan to cover the cost, this is not the response we were hoping for,” said Arnold.

New Brunswick Public Safety Minister Kris Austin doesn't think its right either.

“There's obviously some substantial costs that have been borne upon the municipalities in New Brunswick including Moncton and the area. So, I don't think it's quite fair that the federal government has not allocated enough funding to at least help offset those costs. It's a big financial burden for the area.”

New Brunswick Local Government Minister Daniel Allain is disappointed with what he’s seen in the budget regarding policing services.

“There's no mention of policing services. Policing services is so important. During local governance reform policing was one of the top two issues for New Brunswickers,” said Allain. “In our case here in New Brunswick as you can see, we're increasing the policing costs and we're bearing the brunt of it.”

The Mass Casualty Commission [MCC] today noted the inquiry into the Portapique mass shooting took place as a broader conversation about the RCMP's role in how it provides policing services across Canada.

Some jurisdictions are even considering seeking other policing alternatives, according to the MCC.

“We believe that how the government of Canada and the RCMP respond to the recommendations we make in this report could have a significant bearing on the future of the RCMP’s contract policing services,” stated the MCC.

Moncton activist and Grassroots NB member Charles MacDougall is against public spending on the new RCMP facility in Moncton and says the city has told him the contract has been signed and their hands are tied.

“I think there should be so much more local governance responsible for policing decisions and public safety decisions as a whole,” said MacDougall.

MacDougall thinks it is unfortunate there are no alternatives to the new facility on Albert Street being explored.

“Even if it has been years now that Moncton residents have been bringing this up,” said MacDougall.

Moncton City Council voted in favour – seven votes to four - of the new building in March, 2022.

The current headquarters was built in the 1970s, and according to the city isn’t big or modern enough for a policing force for three communities.

It is scheduled to open in 2025.