Sioux Lookout Mayor hoping for positive news after province announces proposal to offset OPP cost increases for small and rural municipalities

Tim Brody - Editor

Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance is hoping for positive news for the community following a Nov. 29 announcement from the Solicitor General that, “The Ontario government is proposing to provide over $77 million in financial relief to municipalities to help offset the increased cost of municipal police services provided by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).”
The Municipality of Sioux Lookout shared in a Nov. 28 news release, in which it invites residents to participate in “an innovative and interactive way to weigh in on 2025 budget priorities”, called “Budgetopoly”, that “The 2025 budget process comes with an added challenge, as policing costs have increased by 61percent. This alone results in over $1 million in additional expenses.”
The announcement from the Solicitor General’s ministry states, “This investment will help these predominantly small and rural communities address the budget impacts resulting from the collective bargaining agreement that was reached between the province and the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) in July 2024.”
“Our government is working closely with our municipal partners and our women and men in uniform to keep communities across Ontario safe,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “The financial relief we are proposing will help municipal leaders balance their budgets and invest in their communities while ensuring no change to the policing provided by the OPP that keeps families and businesses safe.”
The Ontario government’s proposal would support small and rural municipalities by offsetting the 2025 impacts of OPP salary increases. This includes:

• A 3.75 per cent bill reduction on 2023 total reconciled costs,
  
• A 44 per cent bill reduction on 2023 reconciled overtime costs, and
  
• A 10 per cent bill reduction on amounts invoiced for 2025 policing costs.
  

The Solicitor General’s ministry goes on to state that In addition to these changes, “the Government of Ontario is continuing its annual $125 million Court Security & Prisoner Transportation Transfer Payment Program for the 2025 calendar year.
“The province will also be examining options for reviewing the OPP billing model to ensure that it meets the needs of communities across the province.”
“The situation related to the Provincial News Release ‘Ontario Offsetting OPP Cost Increases for Small and Rural Municipalities’ continues to evolve,” stated Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance
“Over the weekend we have learned that some municipalities have received correspondence from the Province, specific to their community. It is assumed that this communication is the follow-up to the information in the News Release which states – “The Province will also be examining options for reviewing the OPP billing model to ensure that it meets the needs of communities across the Province.”  Since this billing model was introduced in January 2015, Sioux Lookout has been advocating for policing cost relief for our Municipality. We also have been asking for services and changes that would reduce the necessity to use policing interventions. We look forward to positive news from the Province, the people of Sioux Lookout are certainly in need of it.”