Bid to shift police funds to Ottawa Public Health fails
Councillor's bid to transfer half expected property tax allotment fails in 20-4 vote
Coun. Shawn Menard failed on Wednesday to convince council to feed more money to Ottawa Public Health by rolling back a property tax allotment the Ottawa Police Service has been expecting in 2021.
Menard, a member of the health board, wanted the police force to get an increase of 1.5 per cent instead of the staff-recommended three per cent. The health unit's increase is set at 2.5 per cent.
The increases don't take into account extra money coming from properties added to the tax roll.
For Menard and others who supported him, it made little sense to give more money to the police force than the health unit during a public health crisis. He said he wasn't proposing to cut the Ottawa police budget, only the recommended increase in 2021.
An overwhelming majority of council disagreed with Menard, leading to a 20-4 vote. Only councillors Catherine McKenney, Jeff Leiper and Mathieu Fleury saw it his way.
Leiper said Menard's motion did exactly what Mayor Jim Watson has challenged councillors to do for years by finding offsetting savings to beef up other parts of the budget. According to Leiper, the problems in his Kitchissippi ward require a public health response, not police intervention.
Some around council, like Mayor Jim Watson, saw Menard's move as a way to defund the police force artfully, while offering up a worthy agency to benefit from it.
Coun. Diane Deans, chairwoman of the police services board, said Menard's move was “well-intentioned,” but added there are changes happening inside the police force that require the necessary financial resources from city hall.
“The solution is not just a simple budget solution,” Deans said. “It takes time and it takes the desire and willingness to change.”
Deans previewed the proposals coming in the draft 2021 police budget, including additional support for neighbourhood officers, more resources to address violence against women and more sexual assault investigators, especially to support Indigenous women.
Coun. Rawlson King, council's liaison for anti-racism and ethnocultural relations, said he couldn't support Menard's motion knowing the police force under Chief Peter Sloly is undertaking important reforms to improve the culture, diversity and equity in the organization.
The discussion inspired Coun. Keith Egli, the chair of the health board, to stand up for the health unit in an attempt to match the agency's budget increase with the police force's three-per-cent increase.
It would have meant an extra $116,000 for the health unit.
Earlier in the meeting, the medical officer of health, Vera Etches, told council the health unit is having problems keeping up with its regular programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including programs for new mothers, and dental, mental health and sexual health clinics.
Adjusting the departmental and agency allotments from the tax revenue can impact the general property tax increase.
Watson swatted away the tax threat, offering instead to talk with Egli away from the council meeting to come up with a solution for the health unit. The mayor said he doesn't want property taxpayers to give a break to the provincial government, which is responsible for health and provides 70 per cent of the health unit's funding.
Another police-related motion on council's agenda addressed the issue of paying salaries to suspended cops accused of serious offences.
Watson and Deans won council's support in a 23-1 vote to call on the provincial government to enact legislation that would give the police chief and police board the power to suspend officers without pay. Coun. Rick Chiarelli was the only one in opposition, citing