The provincial government says RCMP costs for towns under 5,000 will increase by eight per cent, starting April 1st.
That announcement caught La Ronge Mayor Thomas Sierzycki by surprise today.
Sierzycki says La Ronge town council knows policing costs have gone up, but they would have appreciated more notice and government consultation with the municipalities.
He says, fortunately, there is still time to factor the increase in before council sets its budget. That’s expected to happen in May.
Sierzycki adds it is a lot more cost-efficient for La Ronge to have RCMP policing than to set up its own police force.
But he thinks policing could be provided more efficiently, and has some ideas on how that could be done:
“Currently, our La Ronge RCMP members are doing court. I know other places like Saskatoon and Regina have sheriffs going into the courts. We would rather have those members on the streets, doing calls and proactive measures, rather than being tied up in court.”