Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA Kathy Corrigan hasn't seen the document that will be signed today in Surrey, but her husband has.
The province and the RCMP will be signing off on a new 20-year federal-provincial RCMP contract and Corrigan, the NDP's public safety and solicitor general critic, still has concerns.
"The local governments haven't signed off on it yet," she said. "As I understand it, the province is signing off on their end and local governments will be looking at it, and it's a 'take it or leave it deal' for local governments."
Corrigan said one of her biggest concerns is that municipalities don't have much protection from rising policing costs. Municipalities now pay 90 per cent of the contract costs, with the federal government picking up the other 10 per cent. As part of the new contract, it's expected the feds will pay 30 per cent of the cost for special integrated units - like the integrated homicide investigation unit - with the province picking up the other 70 per cent.
"I don't think there's a way for cities to stop rapidly increasing policing costs. ... The person paying the bills needs to have some ability to control the costs," she said, adding that the provincial government missed an opportunity last year when negotiating with the feds.
"I would have liked to see a costing out of what it would have cost to go to a provincial policing (service)," she said. "That was an alternative we could have looked at."
Corrigan added the contract can be reviewed every five years and if municipalities or the province aren't satisfied with the deal they can give two years notice to opt out and form a city or provincial force.
Corrigan, who's married to Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, said her husband has been given details of the contract.
"Derek has it, but he's not allowed to show it to me," she said.
Derek Corrigan was in a GVRD meeting on Wednesday morning and both he and Kathy are flying to Mesa, Arizona this afternoon for a scheduled sister city visit.
The official signing of the contract at noon today will have Vic Toews, federal Minister of Public Safety, and Shirley Bond, provincial Minister of Justice and Attorney General, signing the new federal-provincial RCMP contract agreement.
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