The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) says rising RCMP officer salaries and retroactive pay are overwhelming for some regions across the country, especially in rural areas.
After the force’s first collective agreement was inked over the summer, retroactive pay became a big concern in some New Brunswick towns such as Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B.
“It will have a terrible impact because we were warned by the federal government to be prepared for a 2.5 per cent increase annually, but it ended up being 23.7 over six years, so the impact is enormous,” said Scott Pearce, the second vice-president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and mayor of Gore, Que.
The FCM is calling on Ottawa to pay that lump sum.
Salaries for constables — which make up more than half of the force’s officers — are climbing to $106,576 as of April 1, 2022 from $86,110 in 2016.
The changes are retroactive to 2017.
Grand Bay-Westfield says municipalities were not consulted during the bargaining process with the RCMP, and that’s something the FCM wants changed too.
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Municipalities aren’t allowed to run deficits, so they would have to cut services or increase taxes to make up the difference, Pearce said.
“The city of Airdrie, in Alberta, estimates that the new agreement will have a $3.5 to $4-million impact on their budget, which is equivalent to a 5 per cent tax increase for their population of 68,000,” Pearce said.
The federal government pays a maximum of 30 per cent of policing costs, while a municipality’s contribution depends on its population and other factors.
Pearce said the FCM isn’t upset with the increases, but feels “hung out to dry” with the discrepancy between increases and what Ottawa warned the federation about.
“We were just blindsided when we were warned it would be a certain price, and it came out much costlier,” Pearce said. “No one I’ve spoken to across the country is upset that our RCMP members are being paid well. They deserve that. They’re out there every day risking their lives to keep Canadians safe.”
The RCMP covers 150 communities across the country and serves more than 600 Indigenous communities, according to its website.
The policing agreements can be terminated with two-years notice.
Dalhousie, N.B., Mayor Normand Pelletier said his town has only seen a $2,000-$5,000 annual increases in contribution over the past few years.
But Pelletier said the RCMP should be replaced by a municipal or regional force similar to what the area had more than 20 years ago — due to what he calls inadequate coverage.
“When you have individuals on sick leave or holiday, they’re not replaced,” he said. “So they’re always short.”
He also pointed out that RCMP members are often transferred after a couple of years “so it’s not like you’ve got homegrown officers.”
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