Rural policing costs are too high, say Saskatchewan municipalities, but they aren’t yet willing to withhold their fees to the RCMP in protest.
A resolution presented to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities at last week’s annual convention asked delegates to “unite our protest, and withhold our policing cost remittance so that we get the attention required to get our concerns taken seriously.”
The move would have been similar to the recent education tax protest, which wasn’t endorsed by SARM.
Instead, the delegates decided their board should approach government about eliminating the levies. If they don’t get a positive response or at least some reduction in cost, delegates want the board to “promote a province-wide corrective action than can be supported by all rural municipalities in 2006 and beyond.”
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There was no discussion and the resolution, which emerged from an earlier meeting of Regina district RMs, passed unanimously.
The other resolution, which called for an immediate protest, was presented by the RM of Barrier Valley.
The administrator told the meeting that council felt it couldn’t pass on costs to farmers who are struggling to make ends meet.
“We want to emphasize we’re not dissatisfied with the RCMP themselves,” said Fern Lucas.
Before 1999, rural municipalities did not pay policing levies, but costs have nearly doubled since the levies were implemented.
The convention also passed resolutions directing SARM to investigate whether taxpayers could use credit cards to pay their land taxes, lobby both levels of government to obtain equal funding for parents who stay at home as well as those who work, and ask the province to compensate municipalities for seismic exploration on public rights-of-way.
A motion that the federal departments of transport and fisheries and oceans be “removed” from the province and that all approvals for road construction on, over or near waterways be handled by the province was passed unanimously.
