Despite being excluded from the negotiation process, local municipalities have been left to shoulder the lion share of the costs for RCMP wage increases and retroactive payments.
Municipalities don’t have the same budget flexibility as the federal government and without assistance will be forced to cut services or significantly hike taxes.
North Battleford, Lloydminster, Cut Knife, Wilkie and Paradise Hill have all expressed serious concern with the higher than anticipated costs and the resulting budgetary constraints.
The Liberals who failed to consult municipalities should throw municipalities a lifeline and absorb the one-time retroactive costs that they negotiated.