November 27, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario – At a time when many Ottawa residents are struggling to make ends meet, the Ottawa Police Services Board is expected to approve a $13 million dollar increase to the Ottawa Police Service budget today.
The Board’s decision will be based on virtually no input from oral public delegations to the Board from Ottawa residents as the Board has continued to respond to criticisms of its restrictions on public participation by imposing even more restrictions. At its February 27, 2023 meeting the Board approved public delegation restrictions including:
- limiting delegations to one hour for all delegations combined;
- prioritizing delegates who have not spoken in the last three months; and
- requiring delegates to submit their comments in writing beforehand for approval.
The result of Board restrictions since February 2022 has been a reduction in the number of public delegations from almost 100 at a November 2020 Board meeting on the police budget – to no delegations at the Board’s May, June or July 2023 meetings or its November 17 Finance and Audit Committee meeting on the 2024 police budget.
Very few public delegations are expected at today’s meeting where the Board will vote on the police budget.
“The really troubling thing about this is that Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and two other city councillors who sit on the police board — Cathy Curry and Marty Carr — have fully supported the Board’s restrictions on public delegations. They should know better because it is unimaginable that they would support this at city meetings – so why do they support it at Board meetings?”, said 613-819 Black Hub coordinator Robin Browne.