All but one B.C. municipality has signed new RCMP contract

SURREY, B.C. – The B.C. community of Squamish remains the lone holdout in signing a new RCMP contract for local policing, after weeks of delays that have seen some cities muse about ditching the force in two years.

The province signed a new 20-year contract with the RCMP this year, and municipalities that use the RCMP as their local police force have until June 30 to sign up.

Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender, who represented municipalities during negotiations, says Squamish has yet to sign, although he’s confident the city will jump on board before the deadline.

Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham could not be reached to explain why his community has yet to sign the deal.

Other municipalities, particularly in the Vancouver area, have raised concerns about the amount of control the 20-year contract gives them over their local detachments, and several missed a previous deadline to sign on.

Ladysmith was listed among the communities that hadn’t signed, but Mayor Rob Hutchins explains the delay was over funding for a recently built RCMP detachment, which has since been sorted out.