By Jordan Davidson (Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow)

AUMA says Feds and province should pay

Municipalities shouldn’t be on hook for RCMP raises; AUMA, Red Deer city council

Aug 30, 2021 | 9:15 PM

Red Deer city council is joining the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) in calling on the federal and provincial governments to pay for an increase in RCMP salaries.

This is the result of the Government of Canada and the National Police Federation (NPF) signing a six-year collective agreement on Aug 6, 2021, which comes into effect within 90 days of the agreement being signed.

According to the RCMP, as of April 1, 2022, a constable will make up to $106,576 a year, an increase of $20,000. A staff sergeant will make between $134,912 and $138,657. Constables make up more than half of the RCMP’s ranks.

The deal also includes retroactive increases going back to 2016, which was the last time the RCMP updated their wages.

This agreement would have an immediate impact to the City of Red Deer to the tune of $5.37 million in one times costs. That amount includes retroactive pay, but does not include any anticipated increases due to excess leave, body armor, body cameras, or pistol modernization.

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City officials say $5.37 million represents nearly 30 per cent of the 2021 policing budget of $18.49 million.

With a pay increase of approximately $20,000 per member, the City would have to raise an additional $690,000 going forward in annual property taxes.

The AUMA says these negotiations were done between the federal government and the NPF, with the RCMP being the certified bargaining agent. The AUMA further points out that not only were municipalities not at the negotiating table, they also were not able to plan for these increases, and likely don’t have the fiscal capacity to cover retroactive pay increases.

On Monday, Red Deer city council voted to support the advocacy mandate set out by the AUMA, by asking the Government of Canada to cover the one-time payment of costs associated with retroactive pay for RCMP regulars and reservists. They also support requesting the Government of Alberta to adjust the Municipal Policing Assistance Grant to reflect the ongoing cost increase to municipalities.

Municipalities under 5,000 in population and MD’s and Counties are policed under the Provincial Police Service Agreements, whereas municipalities over 5,000 contract directly with the RCMP under the Municipal Police Service Agreement.

Neither the federal or provincial governments have indicated they would help offset these additional costs.

Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer says while they appreciate what the RCMP does to service the city, the issue here is the absence of any municipal representation at the negotiating table, when up to five years of retroactive pay increases was agreed upon between the federal government and NPF.

“The federal government must be responsible for the negotiations it has conducted. Municipal governments did not have a place at the negotiation table nor do they have the resources to fund the significant financial impact of retroactive pay.”

The motion to support the AUMA resolutions was passed unanimously.

The one-time expense for retroactive pay for 2017 to 2020 is approximately $5.4 million. The City anticipated an increase since 2017 and set aside $4.3 million. This leaves The City with a $1.1 million shortfall for those years. For 2021, there will be a shortfall of $1.6 million to cover the retroactive pay.

The total variance associated with the RCMP retroactive pay, which will come during budget this fall is $2.7 million. The City will also need to account for approximately $690,000 to cover RCMP pay increases starting in the 2022 budget.

“Right now, the City of Red Deer is not in a position to find more than $5 million for retroactive pay in our current approved budget,” said Veer. “Over the past few years, the City of Red Deer has set aside funding to lessen the impact of an anticipated police funding increase – but without a voice at the negotiating table, we were not able to pinpoint the exact amount of that increase. It will be difficult to incorporate the additional $690,000 each year into future budgets without impacting property taxes or budgets in other areas.”

In 2017, the Government of Canada passed legislation which allowed RCMP regular members and reservists to unionize and bargain collectively. A deal was reached in June 2021, but those details were not made public at the time.