Ottawa-Gatineau border checkpoints, vaccination clinics cost Ottawa police $1 million
Police checkpoints at Ottawa-Gatineau border crossings and officers assigned to COVID-19 vaccination clinics have cost the Ottawa Police Service $1 million so far this year.
The second quarter financial status report for the Ottawa Police Services Board shows the service incurred $1 million in costs related to checkpoints at interprovincial crossings in April, May and June and the city of Ottawa's vaccination clinics.
As part of the Stay at Home order issued in April, the Ontario government announced restrictions on non-essential travel into Ontario at interprovincial crossings. Police were expected to staff the checkpoints between Ottawa and Gatineau 24-hours a day, seven days a week. After two days, police shifted to setting up sporadic checkpoints at the bridges and ferry crossings, citing budgetary and staffing pressures.
The police checkpoints at the Ottawa-Gatineau crossings came down on June 16.
Mayor Jim Watson said in June that the sporadic checkpoints at interprovincial crossings cost the Ottawa Police Service $800,000.
The financial status report for the Ottawa Police Services Board only says police are incurring costs at vaccination clinics, but doesn't provide any other details.
Staff say the Ontario government will cover the $1 million costs related to COVID-19 operations in Ottawa.
"The OPS has an agreement with the Solicitor General of Ontario that we will be reimbursed an estimated $1 million for incremental costs related to the interprovincial border enforcement due to the Stay at Home Order and the vaccination clinics."
The Ottawa Police Service is projecting a balanced budget this year. A $12.6 million budget shortfall for revenues, COVID-19 expenditures and operation expenditures will be offset by a spending freeze, a no-travel order, a delay in hiring of growth-related positions and one-time revenue from the province.
Staff say there are four operation obligations causing pressures on the 2021 budget, including fleet maintenance and fuel costs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Live updates: What star witness in Trump hush money case has said on the stand so far
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
When you have a moment's notice to evacuate, what do you take?
Knowing what to have at home, or take with you for an evacuation, can be useful and even life-saving.
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.’s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease’s progression.
Canucks' Soucy suspended 1 game, Zadorov fined $5,000 for post-game crosschecks on McDavid
A Vancouver Canucks defenceman has been suspended for a game and another was handed a hefty fine after a scrum broke out at the end of Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sues for defamation over National Enquirer, InTouch Weekly stories
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sued the parent company of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly on Monday for a story that she said falsely claimed that she was trying to help the Menendez brothers get a retrial after they were convicted of murdering their parents.
Wildfire smoke drifts across Canada, over parts of U.S., prompting air quality advisories
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
'A great victory for the industry': Taxi drivers celebrate ruling that found City of Ottawa negligent in allowing Uber to operate
An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that the City of Ottawa was negligent in its enforcement of the city's taxi bylaw when it allowed Uber to begin operating in 2014, harming the city's established taxi industry.