The amount represents the amount paid by the council for RCMP services on a yearly basis. (File photo/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

refund

Town Council accepts RCMP settlement regarding enhanced policing contract

Feb 29, 2024 | 12:06 PM

La Ronge Town Council has accepted $223,125 for an RCMP service credit after issues arose at the end of a three-year enhanced policing agreement.

The municipality agreed with the RCMP to offer enhanced policing from December 2019 to Nov. 30, 2022. There were concerns about staffing levels and if the actual performance of the contract matched the intention for enhanced policing levels.

In September 2023, council attempted to recover more than $1.2 million from the RCMP for breach of contract. That represented the full amount paid to the RCMP for enhanced policing.

Three new constables were supposed to be hired through the agreement and those officers were said to be focused entirely on servicing the municipality through increased patrols and other directions suggested by council. The officers had to dedicate at least 70 per cent of their on-duty time to town responsibilities.

“Mayor, administration and RCMP representatives met a number of times to discuss the concerns and wishes of the town regarding the enhanced policing contract,” a document prepared by administration for council stated.

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“In these meetings, there was acknowledgement that the enhanced policing agreement was ambiguous in some areas, and a subjective analysis of personnel deployment and policing impact in the community during that time would be difficult.”

To settle the matter, the RCMP accepted the town’s raising of those concerns as equivalency of notice and agreed to provide an adjustment to contractual amounts paid thereafter. The resulting adjustment would equate to $223,125, which would be applied as a credit toward the town’s future RCMP invoicing.

The amount being credited is approximately the same amount the municipality pays the RCMP for policing yearly. The decision to accept the offer was made at a regular council meeting held earlier this week.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com