The federal government says it won’t bill provinces and municipalities for the retroactive portion of Mountie salaries while it considers whether to help shoulder some of the burden of a steep pay-raise package.
The RCMP union negotiated its first contract with the Treasury Board last August and gained significant wage increases for its members, prompting some mayors and town councillors to say that because of the heightened costs, they could no longer afford their police.
Costs for the nearly 20,000 RCMP officers are shared between federal, provincial and municipal governments.
