The mayor of Deep River, Ont. says it’s “not fair” that the municipality will not receive a subsidy from the Ontario government to help cover policing costs in 2025.
As reported by CTV News, municipalities patrolled by Ontario Provincial Police are facing significant budget increases for policing services beginning next year, resulting in steep tax hikes for residents.
At the end of November, the Ontario government announced it would be offering $77 million to the 330 municipalities served by the OPP to help offset the increase – a subsidy that averages about $233,000 per town.
But that subsidy is not being extended to municipalities that operate local police services in tandem with OPP, such as Deep River, Smiths Falls, Gananoque, or Belleville.
Deep River Mayor Suzanne De’on is frustrated her municipality is being left out, saying her residents are provincial taxpayers who expect the same provincial relief.
“Having the province provide a further 10 per cent subsidy for the 2025 costs of policing only to OPP served communities and exclude small communities like ours with their own police service is a kick in the teeth. It’s not fair and it’s not sustainable,” De’on said in a statement.
“If the province wants all communities to go to OPP policing, they should just say so and shut down our local force. Quite frankly that’s the signal I am getting from the province right now.”
De’on says Deep River explored the possibility of transitioning fully to an OPP model, but residents expressed strong interest to retain their local force.
“We are a small urban municipality and community policing is very important to our residents. They value our municipal police service and they pay the full cost of it.”
De’on’s statement is one that has echoed across eastern Ontario, with mayors Shawn Pankow of Smiths Falls and Neil Ellis of Belleville calling on the province to accommodate their municipalities.
De’on says her town is one of over a dozen in Ontario left out of the subsidy.
“All we are asking for is the same 10 per cent rebate others got, we shouldn’t be left out in the cold.”