WHEREAS local governments in British Columbia can now be subject to unexpected costs as a result of major criminal investigations involving RCMP resources drawn from outside their local jurisdictions; AND WHEREAS these unexpected costs have the potential to create severe financial hardship for local governments; AND WHEREAS the UBCM, on behalf of local governments across British Columbia, is currently negotiating with other orders of government to develop a new RCMP contract: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UBCM give its RCMP contract negotiating committee a clear and unequivocal mandate to ensure that the new contract will explicitly assign to other orders of government all costs incurred for resources drawn from outside a local governments jurisdiction in the normal course of any major criminal investigation.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General To clarify, this is not a contract renewal issue; it is a contract management issue. For municipalities that provide police services, the Police Act requires them to provide policing with a police force of sufficient strength to enforce the laws and maintain law and order. Municipalities are expected to prevent, respond and solve all crime issues within their communities. Some municipalities do not have the level of expertise or capacity to provide major criminal investigative services, in which case resources from elsewhere may be brought in to provide these services.
Ministry of Public Safety Resolutions SR1 and C10 relate to the cost of delivering local police services by the RCMP, accountability to mechanisms and responsibility for unexpected costs as a result of major criminal investigations. With respect to the cost of RCMP services for the municipalities of British Columbia, as noted in my response to your July 17, 2010 letter on this issues, the rise of police expenditures over the past decade has been a pressure on all governments in Canada. The issues of cost containment and affordability are certainly central to discussions taking place concerning the renewal of Police Services Agreements, which expire on March 31, 2012. While financial sustainability and coverage of actual costs are important elements in the ongoing discussions, I would note that according to Statistics Canada data on municipal policing costs, the RCMP is less expensive, on average, than non-RCMP municipal police forces. In addition to our shared interests of affordability, cost containment and sustainability, discussions on the renewal of the RCMP Police Services Agreements, I have also centered on the issue of accountability, and enduring that the future agreements respond to this interest. To this end, British Columbias municipalities have had representation present during renewal negotiations to help ensure that the important issues you have raised are discussed. These discussions are ongoing with the aim of all parties reaching agreement well in advance of the expiration of the current arrangements on March 31, 2012. As a strong supporter of the contract policing model in Canada, I look forward to reaching an Agreement in the near future in order to ensure effective and efficient delivery of police services across the country.