Westlock County’s plan to pay for an enhanced police position raises a very important issue in Alberta — how many services and their associated costs will continue to be passed from the provincial government down to their municipal counterparts?
The question is not a new one: municipalities and other local organizations have been picking up the province’s slack for years.
Take education, for one example. Recently, a parents’ group in Fawcett expressed concern to the school board about making sure the playground equipment they bought would stay in the community. Recreation and physical activity are obviously an essential part of an education, which is meant to be a provincial responsibility.
So why were these parents put in the situation where they even had to raise money in the first place? The province should have signed the cheque for that playground, and for any number of other things parents and communities are forced to raise money for.
Healthcare is another example. The province is responsible for providing health services to Albertans, yet municipalities all across the province put time, effort and money into doctor recruitment and retention. Why should the town have to pay incentives to doctors to recruit and retain them? The province should be footing those bills.
Policing is now becoming another addition to this list. All across the province, communities are discussing the possibility of creating an enhanced policing position — at their own cost, which these days runs about $130,000.
Under the Police Act, policing in small towns and counties is a provincial responsibility. The creation of an enhanced policing position is just another example of the province passing the bill for essential services on to municipalities — municipalities that may or may not be able to afford them.
We live in one of the richest jurisdictions not just in Canada, but in the whole world.
So why is it that our provincial government, the caretakers of this vast wealth, continue to pass the bill down the line to municipalities that often struggle financially?
