An unexpected invoice from the Provincial Government for RCMP lab services sees pushback from Whitecourt Town Council

During the Monday, March 22, Regular Meeting of Council, a unique topic brought about many discussions. Town of Whitecourt administration received a bill in the mail from the Alberta Justice and Solicitor General concerning implementing a chargeback model for the provincial portion of the Biology Casework Analysis Agreements expenses. The bill, for $22,691.66, came entirely out of the blue.

Town of Whitecourt CAO Peter Smyl explained that a review had taken place and that the bill was apparently for casework done at the Whitecourt RCMP Detachment. However, the letter did not explain the bill’s costs, leaving everyone wondering what each dollar is for. “We’ve requested the details to make sure that we understand what the amount represents.” He said that they were communicating with the Association of Urban Municipalities of Alberta (AUMA), who advocate for municipalities. Smyl noted that the cost would impact the final 2021 budget if paid.

Councillor Chauvet said that it felt like another download to municipalities. “I see the letter came in on February 25, and they expected money within 30 days. That is a little hardball, I think. I would like to hear what AUMA has to say about it.” Mayor Chichak said that she had reached out to AUMA. “They have their analyst crunching numbers right now on how this is going to affect municipalities across Alberta. AUMA is opposed to this, and there were never any discussions with the province before this. This was something that came out of the Provincial Government’s last budget and was downloaded back to municipalities without any consultation.”

Councillor Schlosser asked, “they’ve been doing this work forever, correct? And now, they’re just suddenly going to charge for it?” Mayor Chichak said yes. “What happens if we don’t pay it,” queried Councillor Schlosser before adding that he isn’t in favour of paying it. Smyl said the Town of Whitecourt’s agreement with the RCMP, through the province, does not reference these services needing to be paid outside of the contract. “That’s why we want more information from the province and even for AUMA to check into the legalities of the services provided because right now we don’t have this identified anywhere that it talks about the extra charges.”

Councillor Schlosser said that this cost coming outside of the regular invoice is a concern for him. “To come out and say, surprise, here’s a $22,000 charge on top of COVID and all the rest of it. I think it is a dirty pool. It would be different if it were identified in an invoice somewhere, and we never paid it. Then I guess shame on us or shame on them for not making us pay, but I am really averse to paying something that we have a contract with them for, and this isn’t part of that contract.”

For Councillor McAree, the bill felt like another way for the province to get its hands in the taxpayer’s pockets. “There’s no way we should pay this bill currently. Twenty-two thousand dollars all of a sudden? Are we handcuffing our detachment if we refuse to pay it? Are they going to refuse to let us use lab services? To me, it is all part of the contract, so I do not understand how they can separate things. Are we going to be paying extra for the helicopter, the boat or whatever in the future? What is to stop them from breaking up the whole contract? I think that has got to be stopped, and AUMA has to be on top of it. We have to do whatever we can to stop this price gouging.”

Councillor Hilts said the issue was “pretty straightforward” and that he wanted to remain business-like. “If they want to change payment terms or terms of services, then we go back to the contract and renegotiate the contract and pay accordingly, but we do not pay for unsolicited invoices in the mail for services rendered and certainly not without understanding the details for them. I appreciate the work the RCMP does in our community, obviously, but getting an invoice in the mail for services rendered, which are not part of a negotiated agreement, is not payable.”

Councillor McAree wondered if the contract was “a ploy to further the government’s plan” to bring in provincial policing. “Many police services throughout Canada still use the RCMP laboratories for DNA and their lab testing. Even if we went to provincial policing, we would still end up with this bill because I am sure we would not have our own lab. Isn’t it kind of funny that they are bringing this up and putting this extra pressure on us? Are they trying to make provincial policing more attractive? Well, it is not going to work for me,” he concluded.

Councillor Pickard agreed with his colleagues. “If it is a new reality of how they are going to be billing us, then I agree with Councillor Hilts, put it in the contract and let’s see it. I think there needs to be pushback on this. I am concerned about what other unseen costs we are going to get. This is a real unexpected thing. We are in a very tight fiscal position. With an unexpected bill with no background and a 30-day timeline to repay, I think it is incumbent on us to hold off and get more information and, like my colleagues have said, we don’t pay a bill just because an invoice came in.”

Mayor Chichak agreed with the theme of responses she was hearing. “It doesn’t sit right with me, and it upset me. We want to be wise, prudent, and a well-run organization that is efficient and who looks at doing things in a prudent manner, but you need good partners at the table to be able to do that, and I just find that in some areas, the province is not being a good partner. I think if all the municipalities that received this bill pay this invoice, then we are only drinking their Kool-Aid, so I agree with my colleagues around the table that we defer this, and we wait for further information.” Council voted unanimously to defer payment on the $22,691.66 provincial invoice and to work with AUMA.