- Aug 6, 2012
- 27,986
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The largest budget item by far, the rich get richer. The police state expands while the most over priced housing on the planet with a city of non-existent innovation prepares for the impending collapse. Well earned as it were, a microcosm of what is to come for Ontario and Canada in due time.
TPS, OPP, RCMP are NOT our ally, nor yours...
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www.thestar.com
Critics say the police budget is a “black hole” that is robbing communities of needed support services and infrastructure improvements.
The comments came Monday as the Toronto Police Services Board voted unanimously to increase the force’s budget by $48 million — a 4.3 per cent increase over last year that would bring the total budget to $1.16 billion.
The increase would be the biggest since the beginning of the pandemic — which has decimated the city’s finances. The increase is nearly double that of the approved $25-million request in 2022. There was no increase in 2021.
“Every additional dollar that the TPS takes, is a dollar drained from communities, our social supports and our families,” said Dr. Suzanne Shoush, the Indigenous Health Faculty Lead at the University of Toronto, at the board Monday.
“As community resources to ensure better health and well-being are drained, the police become the de facto institution appointed to address all social and health issues that they are not trained or designed for and thus the police mandate grows as a black hole feeding itself.”
The final decision on any new spending is up to city council as the month-long budget process launches on Tuesday. A special meeting to set the city’s overall budget, including for policing, is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Advocates who spoke at the police board Monday challenged both police leaders and Mayor John Tory, who has already backed the increase while wielding new, unprecedented powers over city spending granted by Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government. Tory previously said the increase is “an investment that is both responsible and necessary to keep Toronto safe.”
TPS, OPP, RCMP are NOT our ally, nor yours...
‘A black hole feeding itself’: Board votes unanimously to increase Toronto police budget amid blistering criticism
“This service remains one of the leanest policing organizations on this continent,” new police Chief Myron Demkiw said, defending the proposed $1.16 billion budget.
Critics say the police budget is a “black hole” that is robbing communities of needed support services and infrastructure improvements.
The comments came Monday as the Toronto Police Services Board voted unanimously to increase the force’s budget by $48 million — a 4.3 per cent increase over last year that would bring the total budget to $1.16 billion.
The increase would be the biggest since the beginning of the pandemic — which has decimated the city’s finances. The increase is nearly double that of the approved $25-million request in 2022. There was no increase in 2021.
“Every additional dollar that the TPS takes, is a dollar drained from communities, our social supports and our families,” said Dr. Suzanne Shoush, the Indigenous Health Faculty Lead at the University of Toronto, at the board Monday.
“As community resources to ensure better health and well-being are drained, the police become the de facto institution appointed to address all social and health issues that they are not trained or designed for and thus the police mandate grows as a black hole feeding itself.”
The final decision on any new spending is up to city council as the month-long budget process launches on Tuesday. A special meeting to set the city’s overall budget, including for policing, is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Advocates who spoke at the police board Monday challenged both police leaders and Mayor John Tory, who has already backed the increase while wielding new, unprecedented powers over city spending granted by Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government. Tory previously said the increase is “an investment that is both responsible and necessary to keep Toronto safe.”
