Pitching in helps, but Mattawa wants the province to foot the entire OPP bill.
Mattawa’s mayor Raymond Bélanger and council continue to advocate for the provincial government to fully fund OPP services within small towns with a population under 10,000.
This past October, Mattawa was told the cost of OPP service was rising over $113,000 — an increase of 21 percent. The following month the government allocated $77 million to offset those municipal costs, but Mattawa council wants the province to fully fund the municipality’s OPP services.
Mayor Bélanger noted that during last week’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s (ROMA) conference, “We attended a delegation with a minister representative to make sure that our voice is not lost. We’ve been told that they hear us loud and clear.”
He added that ROMA and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) “are advocating for us,” as well.
See: ‘Ludicrous,’ Mattawa’s CAO says of OPP service increase
The mayor also penned a letter earlier this month to Michael Kerzner, Ontario’s Minister of the Solicitor General. Mayor Bélanger mentioned his concern about the rising OPP costs, noting “This amount would have represented a 6.7 per cent increase to the general taxation levy.”
Bélanger told the minister the town was “grateful” for the immediate relief of that $77 million, of which Mattawa received just over $103,000. In total, the OPP service for 2025 will cost the town $581,611.
See: Provincial funds for OPP a start, but not enough
The mayor’s letter detailed, “The Council of the Town of Mattawa is asking the Provincial Government to absorb policing costs into the provincial budget, specifically for small urban and rural communities of 10,000 people or less.”
Small towns and municipalities can’t continue to carry the weight of rising OPP costs, Bélanger’s letter detailed. Maintenance, capitol costs, and increasing infrastructures costs are becoming “insurmountable challenges,” the mayor added.
Mayor Bélanger noted, “It is a disappointing thing that we cannot move our municipality forward because of multiple increases that we must pay.”
During Mattawa’s Jan. 27 council meeting, Mayor Bélanger emphasized, “We’ve got to stay on them.” He was speaking of the ministers, and he plans to put together more delegations for the AMO and the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) conferences. “They’re going to get tired of hearing from us.”
He added, “Any time we have an opportunity we’re going to take it to make sure we’re heard.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.