Cornwall 'still in the process of hoping' it can avoid RCMP backpay bill

The Town of Cornwall, P.E.I., has not yet made any plans to pay almost $125,000 in backpay for RMCP services, still hopeful some other solution can be found.

The backpay is part of a collective agreement the federal government signed with the National Police Federation. Municipalities had been hoping last month's federal budget would include money to cover the backpay, but instead municipalities were given two years to cover the retroactive costs.

Cornwall's budget has already written and approved a $5.4 million budget for 2023-24. Because the town cannot run a deficit, covering any of the backpay would mean cutting services or increasing taxes.

"We have not looked at either," Cornwall Mayor Minerva McCourt told Island Morning host Laura Chapin.

"We're still in the process of hoping that this has not finally been decided. There's still people working on it."

The town is still consulting with the Canadian Federation of Municipalities, the Federation of P.E.I. Municipalities, and the provincial and federal governments to come up with a solution, said McCourt.

Town may have to adapt

The RCMP backpay is one of a number of unexpected expenses the town has faced in recent years, said McCourt.

"The town budgets very conservatively. We've come through Fiona and we've come through COVID, all unexpected events," she said.

"There's nothing for sure right now. We're meeting with our partners, and we've come through these other events and we adapted, and if need be we will do that with the RCMP."

Cornwall is not alone in facing this situation. Communities across Canada are contemplating ways to pay the bill. On P.E.I., the Town of Stratford owes an estimated $188,000.

Smaller municipalities on the Island, including Tignish, Alberton, O'Leary, Borden-Carleton, Three Rivers and Souris, are also policed by RCMP. But through an agreement with the province, these communities will not be responsible for retroactive RCMP costs.

A similar arrangement is one of the options being pursued by Cornwall, said McCourt.

If efforts to avoid the bill fail, the city will make adjustments to this year's budget to spread the payments out over two years, she said.

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