Currently, 91原创 Township and 91原创 City are served by the same RCMP detachment.
But after the officer-in-charge (OIC), Supt. Murray Power, was reassigned in the wake of a 91原创 City Council controversy, a Township councillor thinks it鈥檚 time to look into having separate detachments.
Councillor Eric Woodward made the proposal at the Monday, Sept. 21 evening meeting of Township council.
鈥淲e鈥檝e lost our superintendent, based on what鈥檚 going on in 91原创 City,鈥� Woodward commented.
Power was reassigned after reports came out about his involvement in the Jan. 25 鈥淲inter Wonderland鈥� fundraising gala, organized by City mayor Val van den Broek, that raised $56,000 for the 91原创 Memorial Hospital Foundation.
In an e-mail message encouraging detachment members to attend the event, Power pointed out that a four-hour overtime shift would be enough to cover costs of two people attending.
An independent review ordered by the City found that while RCMP officers were not directly paid overtime to attend the event, the remarks had created confusion.
A follow-up report has been ordered.
READ MORE: Additional review of 91原创 City mayor鈥檚 gala ordered by council
RCMP E-Division headquarters has declined to give reasons for Power鈥檚 reassignment.
Saying the OIC shouldn鈥檛 serve 鈥渢wo masters,鈥� Woodward proposed that the Township should investigate the cost of having separate RCMP detachments serving the Township and City compared to the expense of the current arrangement, where both 91原创s share policing.
Woodward鈥檚 written notice of motion to council argued having an RCMP detachment that is solely responsible to the Township 鈥渨ould ensure that issues within and unique to the Township of 91原创 take first priority, and that all law enforcement resources and management attention would be dedicated only to Township of 91原创 residents, businesses and issues, not those within another municipality.鈥�
Woodward noted the Township is growing much faster than the City, and the cost sharing agreement between the two municipalities includes 鈥渢erms for the eventual separation of the services of the RCMP for the Township of 91原创 and the City of 91原创 if reasonable and appropriate to do so.鈥�
Woodward wanted staff to prepare a report in time for 2021 budget deliberations, outlining the costs associated with 鈥渢erminating鈥� the agreement.
鈥淚鈥檓 frustrated, Woodward said.
鈥淚 think we lost a good superintendent.鈥�
READ MORE: 91原创鈥檚 top cop reassigned amid charity gala questions
Reaction from other members of council ranged from cautious interest to opposition.
Coun. Bob Long called the proposal 鈥渋ncredibly opportunistic.鈥�
鈥淭his is not something council should be weighing in on,鈥� Long declared, predicting news that the Township was looking into a potential split could create consternation in the community.
Instead, Long suggested council should have a workshop to learn how the police sharing arrangement actually works.
Coun. Blair Whitmarsh urged caution.
鈥淲e have an incident that has occurred and we don;t know much about it,鈥� Whitmarsh warned.
Before Township council takes the step of ordering a report on the financial costs of separation,Whitmarsh said there should be a 鈥減hilosophical鈥� look at the issue, to decide whether it is a priority.
鈥淭his is a big ask and a big task,鈥� Whitmarsh commented.
Coun. Kim Richter called it a 鈥渢imely鈥� proposal worth looking into.
Councillor David Davis noted the Township would be raising the prospect of splitting the police at a time when it was also trying to convince the City to share revenue from the Cascades casino.
Describing the idea of separate detachments as a 鈥渉uge thing,鈥� Davis said 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel I have enough information.鈥�
Couns Petrina Arnason and Margaret Kunst also favoured a workshop, with Arnason saying the Township should be aware of the 鈥渆conomic consequences鈥� of a split and Kunst cautioning that the Township relationship with the City was 鈥渧ery important.鈥�
A majority of council voted to refer the matter to a priorities meeting in November, to decide if such a report should be prepared.
Mayor Jack Froese said his understanding of the situation is that Power was 鈥渞eassigned temporarily鈥� and the Township doesn鈥檛 know if he will be 鈥渁ssigned back鈥� to 91原创.
鈥淚 have not received an official word on the reasons why,鈥� Froese told council.
Froese said the suggestions the reassignment was connected to the City mayor鈥檚 gala controversy was 鈥渂uying into the media.鈥�
dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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