Ottawa Police Services Board approves smaller 2022 budget increase

The sign outside Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street. (Leah Larocque/CTV News Ottawa)

OTTAWA -

The Ottawa Police Services Board has approved a funding increase for the police force in 2022, but it's going to be slightly smaller than initially drafted.

The 2022 draft Ottawa Police Service budget had called for a 2.86 per cent increase in funding over 2021 levels, which amounted to an extra $14.1 million. This, despite a direction to staff at the start of the budget process to draft the operating budget that "assumes a zero per cent increase as its base."

Nearly five hours of public delegations at Monday's police services board meeting called on the board to freeze the budget, which required that the meeting adjourn Monday and resume Tuesday. Protesters at a highway on-ramp and outside police headquarters during the meetings Monday and Tuesday also demanded the budget be frozen.

Tuesday evening, the board unanimously approved a motion introduced by Coun. Rawlson King to cut $2.65 million from the planned increase, which would give the police an extra $11.45 million in 2022, or a two per cent increase over 2021 funding levels.

According to King's motion, seconded by Coun. Carol Anne Meehan, $650,000 would come from reserve funds and the remaining $2 million would come from additional efficiencies.

King said the motion is meant to give the police the funding they need while also taking into account the community's concerns.

"What this motion attempts to do is strike that delicate balance, ensuring that we live up to our legal obligations but, as well, that we listen to the community in terms of the way forward," he said.

However, Police Chief Peter Sloly suggested the smaller funding increase would negatively impact the police service.

"I have to tell you, I probably won't sleep much tonight," he said.

"Whatever we do to rightfully, and I hope righteously, take demand away from police officers and civilian members of this organization that relates to mental health and addictions, people in crisis, if that's going to happen, truly happen, there needs to be a level of accountability that we can all go to sleep at night knowing that at 2 o'clock in the morning, 3 o'clock in the morning, 11 o'clock at night, on a statutory holiday, on Christmas Eve, when there's a full moon outside, and a call comes in somewhere in the system that is Ottawa that says, in 2021 it would go to the Ottawa Police Service 911 system, that that goes somewhere else and somebody else from another service agency picks it up and responds, that's my concern."

Sloly warned that trimming the budget could set the force back years, giving an example from the 2012 budget.

"If we make the same mistake last time, which was just a cut, and we don't build in the commitment to co-produce something better, this will end up being just that—a cut that will hurt this police service, and hurt this city, and hurt those that need it most, which are most from the BIPOC community… Please do not make the same mistake that the previous board and the previous city did when they cut this organization to the bone."

Despite the chief's warnings, the motion to approve a two per cent increase versus a nearly three per cent increase was approved. Board chair Coun. Diane Deans thanked the members for their approval.

"I believe that this budget is a reflection of the change that this board has committed to," Deans said. "Some will say we didn’t go far enough. You will hear other say perhaps we've gone too far. I guess if everyone is equally concerned, maybe we've hit that sweet spot."

Within minutes of the budget passing, Horizon Ottawa, members of which were among the dozens of delegates calling for a freeze on Monday, condemned the two per cent increase, calling it a "half measure that doesn’t go far enough to keep marginalized residents safe."

Deans then presented a motion that would be presented to city council calling for the $2.65 million savings from the police budget be allocated to the city's community and social services department to work on a mental health crisis response pilot project.

However, Deans' motion was criticized by Sloly for not explicitly mentioning the Ottawa Police Service as partners in the proposed pilot project.

"I've said it over and over again, I am not going to be supporting anything that does not explicitly have the support of the board to explicitly have the police directly involved in anything like this," he said.

Deans said that she believed the police service would be included in the Guiding Council that was mentioned in the motion, but agreed to work offline with Sloly on rewording the motion before it is presented to council.

City council votes on the full 2022 budget on Dec. 8.