Mayor accuses police union of fentanyl fear-mongering at budget time

Mayor Brian Bowman says Winnipeg's police union engaged in fear-mongering by linking the small police-budget increase to the city's fentanyl crisis.

The preliminary operating budget for 2017 sets the Winnipeg Police Service budget at $288 million, a rise of $7 million over 2016.

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Following the budget's release on Tuesday, Winnipeg Police Association president Moe Sabourin said he was not pleased with the size of the budget increase at a time when the potent opioid fentanyl has complicated the way police respond to calls.

"Our duties and responsibilities become that much more complex and dangerous," Sabourin said at city hall. "The fentanyl epidemic that we're seeing right now is an additional draw on our members.

"The time that we have to take when we go to those calls, the additional precautions we have to take, and we've already had a member that's been exposed through absorption through the skin."

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On Wednesday, Bowman said it was irresponsible for Sabourin to connect the fentanyl crisis to the police budget.

"To in any way, shape or form fear-monger in that way I think is irresponsible," Bowman said at city hall after he was asked whether police could receive more resources if the fentanyl crisis continues. "If we were cutting the budget, fair. But this is an increase to the budget."

The mayor suggested Sabourin is trying to use the fentanyl crisis to leverage more money from the city.

"What's not a new story is the fact you have a union boss wanting more money. What is new is a mayor and council proposing an increase in line with the rate of inflation," Bowman said.

"When you see an 80 per cent increase over the last decade and unsustainable increases to the police budget and repeated calls for the increases to be more sustainable, well, we're delivering that, finally."

Sabourin called the mayor's comments disappointing, considering the nature of the threat posed by fentanyl and the hospitalization of one of his members.

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Council committees will scrutinize the $1.08-billion city budget over the next three weeks. Council votes on it on Dec. 13.