WHEREAS federal and provincial prisoners are housed in municipal lockups on a routine basis at a significant cost to the municipal taxpayers; AND WHEREAS the Provincial reimbursement for the costs of keeping such prisoners does not reflect the actual costs; AND WHEREAS discussions between the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, initiated by the endorsement of previous resolutions on this matter, has not resulted in changes to the level of reimbursements: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities UBCM continue discussions with the Province to ensure that municipalities housing federal and provincial prisoners are reimbursed at a level that reflects actual costs.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General The Province reimburses municipalities for keeping provincial prisoners in municipal lock-ups. The government is committed to ensuring services are delivered in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. To ensure that municipalities are equitably compensated, Keep of Prisoners agreements provide an hourly prisoner rate determined by dividing the total number of provincial prisoner hours into the annual Keep of Prisoner budget. In additional to working to reduce the number of provincial prisoners in lock-ups through the use of video court appearances, revised prisoner transport schedules and increased hours of admission at regional correctional centres, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is working toward securing additional funding that will increase the Keep of Prisoner budget, thus increasing reimbursements to municipalities.