Kneehill County will send a letter of support to Bow River MP Martin Shields as he writes to Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino and President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier following the regular Tuesday, January 11 council meeting.
In the summer of 2021, the federal government and RCMP signed a collective bargaining agreement to retroactively increase RCMP salaries back to 2017; MP Shields is asking Minister Mendicino and President of the Treasury Board for clarification on whether these funds will be the responsibility of the federal government, or whether it will be passed down to provincial governments.
“Right now, we don’t know if any of that cost is being passed on to us as a municipality,” Kneehill County Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mike Haugen explained during the meeting.
CAO Haugen noted if the federal government passes along the funding responsibility to the province, this cost could be further downloaded to municipalities.
The Alberta government has already passed on a portion of its share of police service costs to municipalities, except those municipalities like Calgary and Edmonton who have their own dedicated police services. Kneehill County has already seen costs of some $70,000 to $80,000 per year to subsidize this funding and is expected to see these fees rise to upwards of $480,000 to $500,000 annually.
MP Shields asked municipalities to help give weight to his request for clarification to the Minister of Public Safety and President of the Treasury Board by providing letters of support.
Council unanimously approved sending a letter of support to MP Shields.