Premier Scott Moe told attendees at the SUMA convention a new long-term care facility will be built in La Ronge. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

annual meeting

Enhanced policing, long-term care on the minds of La Ronge councillors at SUMA

Apr 5, 2022 | 1:55 PM

A resolution put forward by the Northern Town of La Ronge regarding enhanced policing agreements has passed at this week’s Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association’s (SUMA) annual convention.

The resolution calls for SUMA to advocate the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety to enforce enhanced policing agreements, develop policy requiring the RCMP to adhere to specifications in the contract regarding the allotted amount of time policing occurs within municipal boundaries, as well as provide additional officers for outlying areas.

In addition, SUMA was asked to advocate the ministries of Justice and Corrections, Policing and Public Safety to review enhanced policing agreements, so that they may more accurately reflect the actual availability of police to northern and remote communities.

“Policing seems to be in the forefront of a lot of municipalities,” La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushniak said. “As we look towards the renewal of our contract, I think there is a lot of conversations happening more so on the upstream part of crime and prevention.”

Back in December 2019, town council at the time entered into a $1.2 million enhanced policing contract with the RCMP. The decision allowed for the RCMP to bring three additional members to the detachment for three years. As a condition, the officers had to dedicate at least 70 per cent of their on-duty time to town responsibilities.

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Ratushniak believes La Ronge is the only municipality in Saskatchewan with an enhanced policing agreement with the RCMP. He noted council will soon need to decide whether or not to extend the contract.

“For us to understand the ramifications of that on our taxpayers and also for other municipalities to understand it as well, there’s a lot of things we have to consider as we look forward to renewal, first and foremost,” Ratushniak said. “And, maybe also understanding reallocating those funds potentially.”

During Premier Scott Moe’s address at SUMA, La Ronge was mentioned as the future site of a long-term care facility. When the provincial budget was announced on March 23, another $5 million was set aside for La Ronge and Grenfell, of which Cumberland NDP MLA Doyle Vermette claimed La Ronge would receive $2 million.

The provincial government announced in June 2020 an investment of approximately $73 million in two new long-term care facilities in La Ronge and Grenfell as part of a $7.5 billion two-year capital plan. An additional $7.6 million for committed for La Ronge in the 2021-22 budget. larongeNOW reached out to the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority about the potential new 80-bed facility and didn’t receive a response.

“It just seems like there is just a lot of quietness happening and we don’t know any answers,” Ratushniak said. “We’re being told they want to break ground … we’re kind of going ‘OK, how is that possible when there are a lot of things that are not in place for us to see that come to fruition.’”

After networking with various municipalities at SUMA, Ratushniak is also concerned about how the province will recruit and retain staff was such a large facility. He said there seems to be a shortage of health care staff, including doctors, across Saskatchewan.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno