The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon will join a handful of other Manitoba communities in asking for more provincial funding to support local policing. The request will come from an Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) committee representing Flin Flon, The Pas, Thompson, Dauphin, Portage La Prairie, and Selkirk, which has discussed ways to save money on policing. Manitoba municipalities with over 5,000 people, like Flin Flon, currently pay 70 per cent of policing costs and all of the money required for police facilities and secretarial staff. The remaining 30 per cent for the police forces comes from the province. Municipal Administrator Larry Fancy said Flin Flon spends about $250,000 more on policing than it receives in grants each year. "We think there's an inequity in the funding formula and that it should be addressed," said Fancy, who represents the City on the AMM committee. "We're trying to come up with a solution which the province would find acceptable." Fancy said the committee hopes to arrange a meeting with the province on the issue within the next six to eight weeks. Ron Bell, vice-president of AMM, told CBC that the current funding formula is not sustainable, saying that officers' salaries are increasing along with the need for more police in certain communities. One of the main functions of the AMM is to lobby on issues that affect Manitoba municipalities. Many issues are raised by members through resolutions or correspondence, which are then brought to the attention of the provincial or federal government.
