Alberta municipalities saddled with $60M in RCMP backpay | 24CA News
Alberta municipalities are pissed off over having to cowl the price of a brand new RCMP collective settlement, which incorporates six years of backpay.
The deal was negotiated by the federal authorities and the RCMP union, which is retroactive to April 1, 2017. The Canadian authorities has instructed municipalities across the nation they’re required to foot the invoice. Alberta municipalities are to pay $60 million.
“Wetaskiwin will be on the hook for about $800,000, but we’re a city of just under 13,000 (residents),” Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Gandam mentioned.
“St. Albert’s looking at probably over $3 million and Red Deer is looking at $6 million, so it’s a huge amount of money for municipalities across the province and across the country.”
READ MORE: RCMP contract backpay depart B.C. municipalities with invoice of as much as $145M
Gandam mentioned he doesn’t have a problem with the pay enhance for RCMP members. He does have a problem with communities who contract the RCMP for its companies being left with the invoice and the best way the negotiation was dealt with.
“With no consultation with any of the municipalities who are going to be affected by this new contract and then to be saddled with a bill to cover those costs or those retro payback to 2017 is really unfair,” Gandam mentioned.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities mentioned the federal authorities has put municipalities in a tough place, particularly as a result of they can’t run a deficit.
“Municipalities have limited resources for revenue generation, so they’re going to be faced with some pretty hard decisions on cutting critical services or passing the bill on to the taxpaying public,” Federation of Canadian Municipalities vice-president Geoff Stewart mentioned.
Gandam mentioned the invoice has been put him in a no-win scenario.
“Whether we implement a one-time levy for our taxpayers to cover that $800,000 or we pull from reserves, either way that’s money that’s not being spent in the communities.”
Alberta municipalities need the federal authorities to rethink and canopy the associated fee.
“Federation of Canadian Municipalities will also be working on that, and they’ve been a huge advocate for us on our behalf working with the federal government,” Gandam mentioned.
“We also have locally, or in Alberta, the Rural Municipalities of Alberta and then other associations across the country that’ll be working to try to get those costs absorbed.”
If not, municipalities have two years to pay for the price of the RCMP pay increase. The federal authorities was not accessible for remark at time of publication.
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