NORTH Shore municipal leaders are still waiting to hear the details of a tentative RCMP contract that Solicitor General Shirley Bond has said will offer new measures for controlling policing costs paid by local government.
"We've made some significant gains in terms of accountability and cost containment," Bond said in announcing a deal Thursday between B.C. and Ottawa.
While details of the 20-year deal have yet to be made public, Bond said the agreement has some new tools "to make sure costs won't just be transferred to municipalities without a pretty good explanation."
One of those new measures will be a "contract management committee" through which the federal and provincial governments will jointly oversee how services are delivered and costs are managed, said Bond.
She added the province will also set up a local government advisory committee to give municipalities a say in police services.
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto said it's good news to hear
about any measures that would give local governments more control over the services they pay for. So far that's something "we haven't had much input on," he said. "It's all been up to Ottawa."
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton echoed those comments, saying he was pleased to hear a new contract has been negotiated with the RCMP. "Generally North Vancouver city and district have gone on record as being pleased with the service we've got from the RCMP," said Walton. "It's all very well to talk about going to a provincial police force, but the costs (would have been) significant."
As to how much control municipalities may have under the new deal, "the truth is in the details," he added.
Municipal governments that pay for the RCMP contracts expect to see a few more of those details when the province shares them with the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
The issue of greater control over rising policing costs was a major sticking point in the negotiations over a new contract. Municipalities have long complained about not having any control over the costs, but having to pay the bill for the RCMP, which has a significant impact on local tax bills.
In the two North Shore municipalities, the cost of the RCMP in 2010 was about $18 million.
In particular, politicians have raised concerns about regional police teams like the integrated homicide team and emergency response team the North Shore leaders say are primarily used in other areas of the Lower Mainland.
"Those are officers that we're paying for but hardly ever see," said Mussatto.
Insp. David Atfield of the North Vancouver RCMP said those are issues the local police force is working on. "We're definitely alive to those issues and trying to find ways to be accountable," he said.
Atfield said giving local governments more say in how police resources are allocated is "a positive development, for sure."
jseyd@nsnews.com
