The mayor of a southern Alberta town said the federal government is failing residents by not including it in a wider RCMP funding formula for smaller communities.
Coaldale Mayor Jack Van Rijn said his community is under financial strain due to having to shoulder 100 percent of RCMP policing costs for its nearly 9,000 residents, the only community in Alberta in such a situation.
Due to a 1992 change that ended federal subsidies for communities without a history of being policed by RCMP, Van Rijn said the town is being left out of the usual 70-30 shared funding between the municipality and police service respectively.
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“The Town of Coaldale had to show the federal government that we were historically policed by the RCMP,” said Van Rijn, adding research conducted by the municipality showed Mounties for more than 30 years during the first half of the 20th century.
But policing of the community for nearly 50 years was handled by the Coaldale Police Service until 2003 followed by the Lethbridge Regional Police for a decade before reverting back to RCMP in 2016.
The fact there is a history of the town having Mounties as their police service should be enough to qualify for the cost-sharing agreement, said Van Rijn.
“The federal government would not agree to the data that we provided to them so right now we find ourselves as the only municipality in all of Canada with a population between 5,000 and 15,000 that is paying 100 percent of policing costs,” he said.
That amounts of additional costs of $400,000 a year, which the town has been paying since 2016.
While Coaldale might be the only community of its size in this situation, there is precedent of other communities in similar situations being able to opt into the 70-30 cost-sharing agreement with Sackville, N.B., doing so in 2012.
Van Rijn said the town was close to a deal just before the 2021 federal election but since then, “we’ve hit a brick wall. There not even responding to our concerns anymore.”
The situation has garnered the attention of Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, who is calling on federal Public Safety Minister Marco Medicino to intervene.
“The federal government has just ignored them,” said Shandro.
Shandro and Van Rijn say the situation is indicative of the federal government’s attitude toward Alberta.
“This is a government that doesn’t always take Alberta seriously, unfortunately, and not always wanting to sit down with a small municipality like Coaldale,” he said.
As for the issue of whether Alberta should establish a provincial police service, Shandro said any such move would need to include further consultations with Alberta’s municipalities and negotiations with the federal government.
“We have not made any decisions and we wouldn’t until those consultations with municipalities,” said Shandro.
For now, however, the additional costs associated with paying the full costs for the RCMP is having an effect on what services can be offered by the town to its residents, said Van Rijn.
“Right now, we’re looking at replacing our aging swimming pool, we need a second sheet of ice and that money would go a long way to start these projects,” he said, adding the situation has cost the town millions already. And it just keeps on growing. Our current contract doesn’t end until 2032 so this injustice is just going to continue until we can get some resolution.”
The Western Producer contacted the Public Security ministry but have not received comment.
