A community movement to save the Treaty 3 Police Service is now underway.
The services board announced last Friday that it would be shutting down the force in 45 days due to a fiscal deficit. In a letter to the Public Services Alliance of Canada, which represents Treaty 3 officers, the board said the union failed to grasp the fiscal reality facing the service and that it had provided an audited financial statement pointing to the causes for the deficit.
“The union rejected our passion and commitment to save our police service,” the letter states.
But PSACE regional representative Judith Moneith-Farrell said that statement was unclear why the deficit was occurring and that an operational review or forensic audit was needed.
“Is this a ploy? Is this a threat that’s going to bring us to a brink or is this really something that they feel they have to close the doors because of mismanagement,” she said.
“We don’t have those answers. I guess they do.”
Community meetings were held in Kenora and Fort Frances this week to speak about the force and how to keep it from closing. At those meetings, Monteith-Farrell told people that the union is looking to bring in a mediator to come to an agreement.
“We are willing to sit down with them and do whatever is required to keep the police service going,” she said.
The board and the union agree that the service is underfunded, a joint provincial and federal responsibility, but both levels of government have said the issue is a labour dispute and won’t intervene.
