Double Dare Issued Regarding Police Contract – OPP takeover clause

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I dare the Amherstburg Police Association to remove this clause in the collective agreement and go to Arbitration on the matter. The members should recognize that it is the community, its ratepayers and council that decide what policing option is chosen.

Likewise, I dare the Amherstburg Police Services Board to remove this clause in the collective agreement and go to Arbitration on the matter. The members should recognize that in the best interests of the community and its ratepayers, policing options that may provide for optimal cost savings should not be limited based on a clause in a collective agreement.

I do not believe an Arbitrator would decide in favour of such a payout, considering the economy and established severance practices.

Commentary by Linda Saxon

Niagara Regional Policing Costs Inequitable Claims Councillor

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As reported in the Niagara Advance, Niagara-on-the-Lake Councillor Collard would like to see Niagara Region look at the new OPP billing model as one option for fixing the inequities to the way Niagara municipalities pay for policing.

For example, he says, Niagara-on-the-Lake pays about 7.2% of the cost of policing, with only 1.8% of the calls.

The NRP budget for this year is $142 million. Of that, Niagara-on-the-Lake residents pay $10.2 million – almost $2.5 million more than it costs to run the Town.

And that figure has risen 25% since 2011, he says.

Police service costs translate to $1,713 per household or $662 per person, in NOTL, with less than 2% of the calls.

Read the full story.

Bart DiPasquale Added To Accessibility Hall Of Shame

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In response to my concerns to Bart DiPasquale, as council’s representative to the Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee, he advised me that the committee’s meetings were rescheduled via several emails as mentioned in this post.

Finally, on December 15, I emailed that he still had not addressed my concerns and requested that he advise me of the outcome; his response was, “I believe your concerns were forwarded to the accessibility committee some time ago. I will check on them.”

I have not received any further response.

For the above reasons, DiPasquale is added to the Accessibility Hall of Shame.

Rennie Rota Completed Human Rights Training

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On December 2, 2014 I posted that 1762668 Ontario Inc., a company owned by Rennie and Anne Rota, was added to the Accessibility Hall Of Shame because it failed to comply with a February 20, 2014 Human Rights Tribunal Ontario Order, part of which stipulated, “The landlord must retain a consultant with expertise in human rights, disability and access who will provide training to Mr. Rota, and any managers, on the landlord’s obligations under the Code with respect to accommodating disability, and the landlord must provide to the applicant by June 1, 2014, a copy of a letter from the consultant verifying that the training is completed.

Six and a half months late, a December 20, 2014 letter certifies that Rennie Rota completed a Human rights Training Program; the letter was received via regular mail December 30, 2014.

Amherstburg police continue to test body-worn video cameras

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Amherstburg Police was scheduled to conclude its study by the end of 2014 and select a body worn camera for patrol officers or shelve the project if not feasible for APS needs.
Now Berthiaume says, “I’m happy with the results so far but we’re still evaluating.”