Alberta announces police funding for Coaldale

Since signing a policing agreement with the federal government in 2016, Coaldale has been the only municipality to cover 100 per cent of its contract with the federally-run RCMP. Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, Mike Ellis announced Friday morning that the province will be stepping in to provide an annual provincial grant to ease some financial burden from Coaldale ratepayers. Ellis calls the refusal from the federal government to foot the bill “Unacceptable and completely unfair”

The $550,000 annual grant will provide Coaldale ratepayers with the same 30 per cent subsidy that the federal government extends to similarly sized towns across the country that are policed by the RCMP under municipal contracts. Coaldale mayor, Jack van Rijn said the money is much needed for the town, and should have never been excluded from federal funding to begin with. He adds that without the funding, the town would have had to raise taxes or cut services.

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter is pleased with Friday’s announcement; something he says was an issue that was needing to be worked on for many years.

And Minister Ellis adds calls were sent out to the feds on the issue, calls that he says fell on deaf ears.