For the second time in as many months, the province has offered an extension to municipalities who haven't signed off yet on the proposed new 20-year RCMP contract with the federal government.
What was once an April 30 and then a May 31 deadline is now June 30 after Justice Minister Shirley Bond extended the deadline on Tuesday afternoon.
"At the end of the day these municipalities are going to have to decide whether they want the RCMP or not," Bond told the Victoria Times Colonist.
"One of the things they are going to have to make clear to their residents is the fact that if they choose a contract other than the RCMP contract, they will lose the support that the federal government provides for policing.
"I understand several municipalities have said they are not going to sign. I am prepared to extend that deadline to June 30, but there will be consequences at that point.
"I will need written indication of what steps will be taken, and at that point if there is not a clear decision obviously I will have to involve my assistant deputy minister of police services, because residents need the certainty of their police services and not only that, it is a matter of complying with the Police Act."
As of Tuesday afternoon, 41 of 62 B.C. municipalities have signed off, but the majority of the Metro Vancouver municipalities have not.
Most notable amongst the cities that have not signed off are Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Richmond and North Vancouver (District).
Bond said Tuesday that the letters to government from municipalities will have to indicate their future policing plans if they don't involve the RCMP. She suggested dissatisfied municipalities could still sign the deal and then immediately execute their two-year opt-out clause while they plan for their own force in the future.
Meanwhile, in Burnaby on Monday night, councillors passed a motion asking for an extension on the deadline and proposed looking into the hiring of a consultant to look into alternative policing models in the event the city wants to move away from its RCMP ties.
The one-month extension may not be enough for Coun. Paul McDonell, who sits on the finance and development committee that proposed the deadline extension and consultant commissioning.
"We've asked a lot of questions about costing, and all we've got back is vague answers," he said. "We feel like we have to look at alternative policing models."
McDonell said he has no timeframe on what extension the city is seeking, but he did say it could be several months before a consultant is hired and able to produce a report for the city.
"We're asking for an extension until the study's done," he said. "We want it open-ended because we don't want to ask for 30 days and then have to go back and keep asking for another 30 days."
McDonell also said the city hasn't set a budget for what the consultant costs would be.
"We haven't put a final number on it," he said. "It's going out to RFP (request for proposal), and we want to see what comes back before we can put a number on it."
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- with files from Rob Shaw, Victoria Times Colonist
