The Town of Okotoks has joined the call for the federal government to absorb additional RCMP costs.

Back in June, National Police Federation came to an agreement with the federal government that included a 23.7 per cent ($20,000) annual salary increase over six years.

The agreement included retroactive pay from April of 2017.

It left many communities with a much bigger bill than they were initially expecting,

According to a release from the Town of Okotoks, municipalities were originally advised to prepare for a 2.5 per cent increase.

The town echoes the call from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for the federal government to cover those retroactive costs on the basis that municipalities were not properly consulted before the agreement was reached.

FCM President Joanne Vanderheyden reached out to several municipalities requesting they join in the appeal to Ottawa.

At their Nov. 29 meeting, council voted in favour.

Mayor Tanya Thorn was quoted in the release:

"We're asking the federal government to absorb all retroactive costs associated with the implementation of the new RCMP collective agreement, and going forward, municipalities need to be properly consulted prior to the implementation of measures that have a direct impact on our operations. Growing our partnership on public safety across orders of government is the best way to maintain the service levels necessary for community safety and the financial sustainability of contract policing services across Canada."

 

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