What all sides at the negotiating table agree on is that the RCMP is the correct choice for carrying out the policing of the province.
That position of consensus is not helpful out in the field, according to at least one Prince George city councillor who said so publicly at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference where the new policing contract was one of the hottest topics of debate.
The UBCM is at the negotiating table as a silent official observer, taking in the talks between the B.C. government and the federal government. What may surprise people is the RCMP is not an active participant either, since they are simply the agents of the feds.
"Is it cheaper to have our own force? There isn't a business case I've seen yet that shows that would be cheaper and in fact the models I've seen show that it would likely be more expensive, and you still have to factor in the questions about quality of service and the depth of service," said Langley mayor and former Prince George broadcaster Peter Fassbender, the UBCM's observer in the negotiations. He stressed he had no vested interest either way, his views were based on the research of the issue that he has done inside the negotiating room and on his own.
Provincial negotiator Kevin Begg is one of the voices actually doing the bargaining. He agreed that launching a provincial police force or throwing each community open to form their own municipal force wasn't sensible.
"There is a funding formula in play, and there is financial input from the federal, the provincial and the municipal governments. If we had our own police force, it would be 100 per cent on the B.C. taxpayer, and there is only one taxpayer," he said. "We continually review that question and cost-wise it would be more expensive, and the RCMP has the ability to offer services a provincial force just wouldn't be able to do. Whether you live in Pouce Coupe or in downtown Vancouver, with the world's technology and the nature of the criminal element today, you can be victimized from a place outside of our borders. We think we have the best model right now."
Prince George city councillor Dave Wilbur said even saying that weakens the negotiating position.
"I'm a little concerned that the provincial police card has been thrown away," said Wilbur. "I don't think there is a partnership concept here at all. The accelerating costs now are not sustainable. In Prince George, 31 per cent of the municipal budget is for protective services (fire and police combined). I am a strong advocate of the work done by the RCMP in our city and across the north. However, if the financial burden is overwhelming, that is not a good result for anyone."
Wilbur told The Citizen that it makes little financial sense for any one municipality to enact their own police force, the RCMP is the best model that way, but for the province as a whole, I have not even seen a business case that addresses that comparison and I don't want to turn away from that (provincial police force) as an option until I do. What is the business case for each?"
That information is there for the viewing, said both Begg and Fassbender.
"I have seen the numbers of Ontario and Quebec (the two jurisdictions in Canada with their own provincial police force), and they are definitely not cheaper, they actually cost more, and they don't have the surge power and the organizational depth and the national/international reach that the RCMP brings," said Fassbender. "But that said, there are issues we (municipalities) want to see resolved, and I think we have come a long way in the negotiations to get some of that. We won't get it all, but we are not in a rush to get a contract signed (the contract expires on March 31, 2012 and continues on as is, if a new contract isn't in place by then) and I anticipate more headway to come."
He also said it was telling that 10 other jurisdictions in Canada were also users of the RCMP as their provincial force and they, too, could revert to their own policing team, but they, too saw greater downside in doing so.
Several speakers from B.C. municipalities rose to the microphone to indicate their beefs with the federal side were clearly outlined, but their biggest issues were actually with the provincial government. Whatever the deal between B.C. and Ottawa, there was then the way B.C. rolled out services to the regions.
"I think the province needs to understand that this is their responsibility, they are the ones downloading most of the costs on us," said Burnaby councillor Sav Dhaliwal.
"The money from Ottawa is what it is. Perhaps it's time the province revisited their funding ratios with the municipalities if they really wanted us to have some breathing room on policing costs," said Kamloops mayor Peter Milobar.
Begg pointed out that the province already underwrites most big-ticket items used by all the RCMP detachments of B.C. like the DNA lab, covering officer overtime, etc.
The other main concern expressed by municipalities was the duration of the contract. The proposed 20-year duration with year-by-year budget disclosure was not acceptable, virtually all communities agreed. There had to be full review/opt-out windows every five years, and there has to be long-range budgeting, because that is how municipalities are required to set up their budgets.
"That is a non-starter for us. We simply need to know," said Fassbender. Negotiators and observers alike felt optimistic this would be one of the items with the best chance of making it to the dotted line in 2012.
An exclusive interview with Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass, commander of RCMP E-Division
Eight provinces and three territories have blanket agreements with the RCMP to look after their policing (each town makes their own contract with either the RCMP or some other police force) - things like patrolling unincorporated communities, special forces like bomb squads and integrated task forces, etc. Each of these regional governments has a stake in the talks, and sit on one side of the negotiating table although they often don't agree amongst themselves on key elements of the contract.
On the other side of the table is the federal government which "owns" the RCMP.
The Mounties themselves are not active participants in the negotiations, other than to provide background. Even at the UBCM convention debates the only role they were given was to sit like the net in the middle of a tennis match while the ball got shot back and forth over them, sometimes striking them with no way to move.
"That is actually a really good analogy," said RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass, B.C.'s RCMP commander, in an exclusive interview with The Citizen. "In the end we are the ones who wait with the greatest anticipation for the results of the negotiations and then carry out the service."
Municipalities large and small have expressed to provincial negotiators that they don't want to continue with the RCMP unless there is more accountability for costs. The RCMP has traditionally told them about new costs, expecting the money in order to continue service, but told the local governments little or nothing about what the breakdown of the costs is.
Also wanted is more accountability in disciplinary action when a Mountie is suspected of misconduct. Civilian oversight with teeth is the main request.
Municipalities want meaningful and timely input on decisions that affect costs and service delivery, and with that is a need for locally controlled performance measurements.
Local governments are also demanding that the province get tough on vacancies, so the RCMP lives up to staffing commitments when illness or parental leave or training takes a member out of active duty.
Do any of these concerns give Bass any pause or concern?
"No, not a thing, we essentially agree with the things that make sense on stronger accountability structures," he said. "We have implemented a lot of that in B.C. already, and it was brought up through the B.C. Chiefs of Police Association quite some time ago, so hearing that come up in this arena seems quite fitting as far as we're concerned."
Bass even suggested that a team of financial officers representing B.C.'s communities be struck and they would have access to the provincial RCMP books to ensure all the funding formulas and cost structures were fully understood.
"Many municipalities' financial arrangements with the RCMP are made with heavy civilian input, by financial staff on both sides who are made intimately aware of the numbers," he said.
Sometimes there are costs that are ordered from Ottawa, like when the RCMP converted from six-shot revolvers to 9mm pistols, or when stronger body armour was deemed necessary, but sometimes they are created by coroners' inquest juries who stipulate things like structural upgrades to cells, like the Prince George inquest into the death of Cheryl Anne Bouey; or major enhancements to video surveillance systems, as was recommended by the inquest into the death of Ian Bush in Houston.
Bass said the RCMP do not take issue with those recommendations, but they do come with a price tag.
"When a new contract is negotiated, we are there to respond and do what the terms of that agreement ask us to do," he said. "I believe the people of B.C. are very well served by our people and we look forward to continuing a very good relationship in B.C."
