Off-Island towns still pay too much for SQ services

There is an adage that some things never change. Worryingly, we learn again this past week that this particularly rings true in regard to the costs of ensuring the public safety of the population within the Vaudreuil-Soulanges municipalité régionale de comté (MRC). Specifically, in what is being referred to as a scandalous situation, the 23 municipalities that make up the MRC continue to pay far more than they should for services delivered by the Sûretédu-Québec. In short, elected officials and the MRC can confirm that repeated overcharging for these services continues. Despite clear opposition year after year from local mayors that the contributions go far beyond what a fair share of provincial costs might represent, recent findings show that the MRC could be contributing as much as 80 per cent of costs as opposed to the formula that would have set a contribution in the 53 per cent range. Already deemed as inequitable at that level in previous years, the MRC is now dismayed at the ongoing unfairness of the share formula. Repeated MRC demands for reimbursement of overpayments incurred under this model have resulted in little if any tangible evidence that the provincial government intends to rectify the situation nor by offering reimbursements to regions that are negatively impacted. For the average citizen that resides in the territory, an understanding of how the payment for the costs for SQ services is arrived at, and how the applied formulas for payment for those costs are shared is overly complex, and difficult at best. What is important and understandable is that the MRC has once again passed a recent resolution demanding a rectification of the formula and reimbursements for overpayments. On average, the cost per citizen for SQ services across the province hovers around $121. Using recent figures, that number in this MRC has now risen to some $169 per person. It’s time that the province halts a process of robbing citizens in certain areas for SQ services and to pay monies back to the Municipalities and to the MRC. Taxing Vaudreuil-Soulanges residents at municipal levels to offset costs of policing services elsewhere makes no sense to this average taxpayer. Unless it can be proven that increasing collective contributions truly result in improved services and quality there can be no justification. Is it time to revisit or reconsider policing and public safety models that could provide services to be delivered by the towns themselves? Would it be possible for the MRC and the towns themselves to even contemplate such a move, given the circumstances?

It’s time that the province halts a process of robbing citizens in certain areas for SQ services.