The City of Steinbach is hopeful that upcoming collective bargaining negotiations between the federal government and the RCMP will better reflect the financial challenges municipalities face when paying for police services.
Mayor Earl Funk says a letter sent by city council to the federal Minister of Public Safety in January has been met with a constructive response.
“They're setting up committees so that we can give feedback to them as to the cost and the impact that it is to our community.”
Funk says he’s encouraged by the direction things are heading.
“I think this is definitely a good way to go. Anytime there's an organization or a government facility that's giving services to us that is allowing us feedback, I think that's very positive. We want to work with the RCMP. We both recognize on both sides there's room for improvement.”
Municipalities seek input on RCMP negotiations
Deputy Mayor Michael Zwaagstra echoes those thoughts, saying it’s essential for the city to have input earlier in the process.
“We want to make sure that the city has the ability to give as much feedback as possible in regards to the collective bargaining process,” says Zwaagstra. “We do appreciate the fact that we received a response from the federal minister on this stating that they will seek to get more municipal input in the upcoming collective bargaining process.”
Zwaagstra noted that while Steinbach can choose how many officers it wants to contract, it has no control over the per-officer cost, which can lead to budgeting challenges.
“That’s why we’re not the only municipality raising these issues,” he says. “The Association of Manitoba Municipalities has been very vocal on this. We’ve been working together with them to communicate our concerns to the federal government. And so we’re hopeful we’ll see some positive changes on this.”
Federal government outlines consultation efforts
In a written response addressed to Mayor Funk, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty acknowledged the city’s concerns and outlined how municipalities are being included in the bargaining process.
“Policing represents a significant cost for municipalities, including those who contract RCMP services,” the letter reads. “As community safety costs continue to rise, the federal government encourages a federal, provincial and territorial dialogue on innovative and timely solutions.”
The federal government says it remains committed to “timely information sharing and engagement with contract partners.”
To facilitate early engagement, an ad hoc Contract Management Committee (CMC) meeting was held in August 2024 to hear from jurisdictions and share a federal engagement strategy. Feedback from municipalities, provinces and territories is now being used to inform the federal negotiation strategy.
“Public Safety and Treasury Board Secretariat remain committed to using all feedback received on collective bargaining to improve our engagement strategies with contract partners moving forward,” the letter stated.
Working toward transparency and accountability
Both city leaders say the ability to weigh in earlier could lead to better outcomes not only for budgeting but for public safety as a whole.
“We do want to work with them,” says Funk. “I do believe that we're going to be working towards that and working for a really good form of public safety for our city.”