Gananoque rejects OPP costing

The motion sought to have the Ontario Provincial Police provide a costing estimate for delivering policing services in Gananoque.

The directive, issued by Mayor John Beddows as part of his guidance for the town’s 2027 operating and capital budgets, instructed the chief administrative officer to explore options for reducing the impact of policing costs on taxpayers.

Those options included examining the possibility of a regional police service, obtaining an OPP contract-services estimate, and retaining the current Gananoque Police Service model.

The directive also called for a concluding report that would allow council to conduct an objective cost-benefit analysis and assess the value of different policing options for taxpayers.

But council showed little appetite Wednesday for requesting the OPP costing information.

Beddows stressed that seeking the information was not in itself a move toward replacing the Gananoque Police Service with the OPP.

“It’s not about changing the service delivery model, it’s about providing the data to make an informed decision in the future,” Beddows said.

However, Gananoque Police Chief Rich Swann questioned whether obtaining the information would be worthwhile.

Coun. Anne-Marie Koiner asked Swann to speak to the mayoral directive and the proposed request.

Swann said he has “strong opinions” about which organization should provide policing services to Gananoque, but indicated that sharing those views publicly would not be appropriate.

He also questioned whether the OPP would be willing to undertake the work required to prepare a detailed costing estimate solely for financial comparison purposes.

“Asking the OPP to provide a costing, simply for financial purposes, I don’t think meets their mandate for providing that,” Swann said. “It’s labour intensive, very in depth, and they’re a busy organization.”

Coun. Colin Brown also opposed pursuing the costing exercise, questioning the practical implications of an OPP policing model.

He pointed specifically to the location of the nearest OPP detachment in Lansdowne.

“So what’s the call time?” Brown asked.

Brown said Gananoque residents already receive strong service from the local police department and argued that collecting the information “just for a numbers game” did not make sense.

“We get great service from the Gananoque Police Department,” he said.

Coun. Matt Harper similarly acknowledged the potential value of collecting comparative data but said there would be a cost associated with obtaining it.

“I appreciate data collection but that comes with a cost,” said Harper. “And we already get great service as it is.”

Harper also pointed to the difference between the services provided by Gananoque’s local police force and what residents might experience under an OPP model.

He cited community activities and events as examples of services provided by local officers.

“You’re not gonna get an OPP officer running the base pads here at the ball diamond; you’re not gonna get an OPP officer running a fish derby organized at the waterfront for kids,” Harper said.

Deputy Mayor Vicki Leakey also voiced her support for the Gananoque Police Service, saying policing was not an issue for the municipality.

The proposed OPP costing request ultimately did not proceed.

After the motion was put forward, there was no seconder, meaning it died on the table and council did not advance the request to the OPP.

The failed motion does not, however, formally determine the future of policing in Gananoque.

The mayoral directive specifically called for staff to examine multiple options, including a regional police service, OPP contract policing and retaining the existing model.

Beddows maintained that obtaining an OPP estimate would simply give council information it could use in making a future decision.

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.