Alberta’s Justice Minister and Solicitor General says municipalities are partners in the province’s changes to the Police Protection Service Agreement (PPSA). Doug Schweitzer made the comment in an exclusive interview with the Trending 55 Newsroom following an announcement that will put all municipalities in Alberta on the hook for a portion of policing costs. Under the old PPSA, jurisdictions with populations of 5,000 people or less did not have to pay for RCMP services.
On Wednesday, Schweitzer announced a total of over $286 million over five years to hire an additional 300 officers as well as civilian workers to combat an increase in crime. Starting next year, lower-tier governments will cover 10 percent of the costs, followed by 15 percent in 2021, 20 percent in 2022 and up to 30 percent in 2023.
Schweitzer says the funding, and changes, to the PPSA means municipal representatives will have a voice at the table. “We worked hand-in-hand with our municipalities on getting feedback and input,” says Schweitzer. “We are going to be creating an Alberta Police Advisory Board that will have representatives from every district of the RCMP; from the Rural Municipalities Association, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, making sure that each region is represented on that board to help us set the priorities for how their money is going to be spent because if you are putting money up, you should have a voice.”
Northern Sunrise County expects to have input if it is covering part of the policing bill.
Schweitzer was also asked about the decline in graduation numbers from the RCMP Training Depot in Regina, Saskatchewan. He tells the newsroom he is not concerned following conversations with the RCMP. “They said they have made some changes regarding their recruitment and they should be able to satisfy this enhanced and increased number of law enforcement officials and police officers,” mentions Schweitzer. “But with that being said, we will watch it year-by-year. That’s why there is a seat at the table for municipalities; to make sure their money is well spent is critical.”
We spoke in depth with Schweitzer about the announcement and the full interview is below.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
