Regional council votes down motion to ask police to cut $4M from 2025 budget
CBC
Waterloo regional councillors have voted down a motion that would have asked the Waterloo Regional Police Service to cut $4 million from its proposed 2025 budget.
The motion was brought before the administration and finance committee by Coun. Rob Deutschmann last week and was deferred to a meeting on Tuesday. The motion asked council to consider requesting the cut, reducing the net levy impact to no more than $248,468,301.
"There's one taxpayer, there's one budget and policing is part of our one budget," Deutschmann said.
Deutschmann said the motion comes amidst a regional budget struggle as regional council has spent the past several weeks proposing cuts to services and searching for savings.
"We're asking that police, the board, do the same with respect to their budget," he said.
North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton said she originally supported the motion, but wanted to reach out to police to ask their thoughts.
"In doing so I found out they decreased by $6.3 million," she said.
Foxton said police told her they saved the money through a number of reductions, including a full-time job position, training expenses, purchase delays for equipment and a vehicle and other non-pressing investments.
"I do not see that they need to do a further $4 million, understanding that," she said.
That sentiment was carried by Coun. Doug Craig, who also sits on the police board.
He said the police budget is sitting at an 8.4 per cent increase whereas the region's budget is sitting at a much higher 10.4 per cent.
"Really what we're doing is we're deflecting away from what the real issue is," said Craig. "And that's the regional budget."
Craig said he wouldn't support a regional budget of 10 or 11 per cent, and that to remedy the budget issues, he suggested deferring it to January.
"I think the police budget sits where it does and they've done, I think, an excellent job at reducing their budget," Craig said.
A measles outbreak in New Brunswick and a surge of cases across Canada has renewed calls for a national vaccination registry.
Homeless encampments have become increasingly common in Montreal over the past five years, leading authorities to adopt a patchwork of approaches to monitor and address the problem, documents reveal.
Gift shop owner Lita Toms says her business in Lac du Bonnet is struggling, largely because local governments have failed to craft an effective tourism strategy.
As teachers continue to raise concerns about challenges in their classrooms, the Saskatchewan government has pledged to do better when it comes to education — including a plan to expand specialized support classrooms.
Three family members are suing the Alberta government and a company that operates an Edmonton group home, alleging both failed to take steps to prevent the death of 15-year-old Noah Gitsel.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
City staff are working on long-term plans to prevent toxic and smelly algae blooms at the Hamilton harbour – and short-term plans to mitigate blooms when they happen – but are cautioning residents that it's not the type of problem with a quick fix.
Another blockade of the Ambassador Bridge wouldn't play out like what happened in February 2022 — thanks to police being empowered to act faster and harder, according to a report that's going to Windsor city council next week.
On the first day of 2025, Alberta's default electricity rate is set to be replaced by the new "rate of last resort," in what the province says is a bid to protect consumers from a volatile electricity pricing landscape.
Canadians and Americans sit next to each other in the stands of a small Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., hockey arena to watch the Soo Thunderbirds face off against their cross-border rivals, Michigan's Soo Eagles.
A number of school bus routes in northwestern Ontario have been cancelled Wednesday after a dump of snow overnight in the region. A number of weather advisories also remain in effect in the region, including snow squall warnings in the Greenstone area.