Dryden, Ont., considering switch to OPP for policing

The city of Dryden in northwestern Ontario has formally begun investigating the possibility of having the OPP take over policing in the community.

Mayor Greg Wilson said council voted to request a quote from the provincial police force at its Thursday night meeting.

"It was unanimous," Wilson said of the vote, adding the formal request was submitted to the province on Friday.

No final decision has been made — council is, at this point, only seeking financial information, and Wilson expects that will take up to 18 months. A vote won't take place until after that, Wilson said.

Transparent process

And, he assured, the entire process will be a transparent one, with members of the public being given the opportunity to have their say.

"They can come in delegations before council, and they can write us, they can call us," Wilson said. "We'll make sure that we touch all the important points of the issue, and make sure that there's participation by everyone that should be participating."

Wilson said the matter is being pursued simply as a potential cost-saving measure.

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"It had nothing to do with the level of service," Wilson said. "What it really came down to was, the city has had some difficulties in the past, financial difficulties."

"It was so bad, actually, that back three or four years ago, we were at a point where we were in serious financial trouble, and the province was very concerned," he said. "They said 'you owe us a fair bit of money on your debt repayment schedule, and what we'll do for you is we'll defer the capital repayments for three years, but you have to pay the interest.'"

However, Wilson said, for the following three years, Dryden will essentially have to make double payments.

Financial struggles

"For 2018, we will have debt repayments of $3.8 million," he said. "For this year, it was about $2.4 (million)."

"Where this really puts us in a bind is ... we had $1.5 (million) capital to invest in our infrastructure for this year at $2.4 million debt repayment," Wilson said. "So you can imagine at $3.8 million debt repayment for next year, we are going to be in real serious trouble."

"When you have no money left after paying for the operations for the city on a yearly basis, you're really stuck."

The Dryden police service includes about 20 officers and four civilian members, and its 2017 budget was about $4.2 million, Wilson said.