Rural municipalities that want to work together to hire a community safety officer say the provincial government should make that process easier.
Last spring delegates to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities passed a resolution asking for financial assistance for RMs to hire CSOs.
Last week at the midterm convention, delegates heard that the response was negative.
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Joan Corneil, administrator in the RM of Hoodoo, said the reply from the provincial government was “totally inadequate.”
“They simply wrote in their letter what the RCMP services were,” she said during the midterm.
The original resolution noted that RCMP weren’t able to provide adequate policing because of a shortage of officers and asked for CSO funding.
The response from the minister responsible, Christine Tell, said there was no program funding available.
“CSOs are still going to be provided training opportunities at minimal cost for weights and dimensions on courses provided by the Saskatchewan Highway Patrol (.) CSO employers are only responsible for travel costs as no tuition costs are charged,” Tell’s letter said.
Corneil moved a new resolution last week saying the shortage of RCMP in small rural communities continues.
“Our own detachment seems to have been short one, two, sometimes three members for extended periods of time,” she said.
RMs are willing to share CSO services so that they have someone to write traffic tickets and enforce bylaws. Corneil said the RM of Hoodoo has problems with speeders and other incidents in its lake community.
Bylaw enforcement officers can’t write traffic tickets, she said, but a CSO could.
The resolution asked SARM to lobby the province for funding for CSO capital and operational costs for those communities that want to share the costs. It also asked that the Targeted Sector Support Initiative, which is designed to encourage collaboration, build capacity and promote good governance, allocate funding for this.
Under the current criteria, shared expenses for a CSO are not eligible costs. Corneil said municipalities should be able to decide where they want to co-operate on their own and sharing a CSO is one of those cases.
Delegates passed resolutions on a wide range of subjects, including expanded hours at border crossings, more post-secondary training seats for health care, and light pollution abatement from oil and gas developments.
They agreed to lobby for recruitment of and better compensation for school bus drivers and they want mandatory tarps on loads of aggregate.
Delegates continue to be concerned about the populations of moose and mule deer and advocated for more hunting opportunities.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
