A Moncton city councillor is defending his votes on policing motions at the committee of the whole.
Discussions surrounding policing were on the agenda during Monday’s meeting.
Last year, a police services study was done by Perivale + Taylor to compare having the RCMP versus a municipal police force.
Bryan Butler says most of his questions were answered but feels more information was needed, specifically a workload analysis to examine the number of officers for the City of Moncton.
With the help of a committee, he suggested an extension to June of this year to see if they could get the information they needed.
But he says a motion was made not to go further with the information gathering.
“That Moncton City Council approve the six recommendations from the Perivale + Taylor Policing Services Study and keep a regional police force with the Codiac RCMP,” said the motion.
It passed with a 6-5 vote. Councillors Butler, Daniel Bourgeois, Charles Leger, Paul Richard, and Deputy Mayor Shawn Crossman voted against it.
A second motion was also presented and voted on: “That a meeting take place among the Commanding Officer, Codiac superintendent, CRPA, and the Tri-Community Councils to discuss the implementation of the recommendations of the Perivale + Taylor Report and the future of public safety in our community.”
Councillors Butler, Bourgeois, and Richard also voted against that motion.
Butler says he’s not opposed to keeping the Mounties, but wanted the chance to obtain the additional information.
From there, he feels the findings should be taken to the community to let the citizens decide.
“I voted against it because we didn’t believe we had enough information to make that decision. We would like to have all the information before we can make any type of decision, and one of the biggest ones was to get that workload analysis,” Butler adds.
The motions still need to be voted on at the March 18 meeting of Moncton City Council, and Butler is encouraging residents to attend so they can stay informed.
“Residents have a right to know what’s going on, to come and listen and ask questions. They (council) want to meet with the RCMP superintendent and also the assistant commissioner, the RCMP and J Division, but they’re private meetings,” says Butler.
“I’m done with the privates. This is a very important issue. If we’re talking contracts or things like that, yes, we have to go into private talk with that, but this is people wanting to know they feel safe.”
