Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, Victoria Police Board co-Chair, is urging Victoria Council to "dig deep" and find a way to deal with a $78,000 VicPd funding shortfall threatening to impact Canada Day celebrations.
Desjardins says there used to be some room in the budget to find funds for such things, but this year's budgeting process has prevented that:
" The challenge that the Police Board had is that budget discussions were prolonged this year through the city of Victoria continually asking for more information, and really making us look at the budget and where can cuts occur."
Desjardins emphasizes the cuts they are dealing with are significant:
" At the end of the day those cuts are too significant, and Canada Day is just sort of the first event coming beyond that whole budget implication."
Desjardins says going forward there needs to be discussion surrounding how policing regional events gets funded, noting everyone benefits.
Meantime she urges Victoria councillors to okay the use of contingency funds for this year, especially since contracts have already been signed.