There are few issues more polarizing than union wages, but my job is to have difficult conversations. Here's why I voted against the 2017-2020 police collective bargaining agreement.
There's no question police have a tough job. I want local police to feel valued, but surely there are creative ways to improve their working conditions other than paying wages on par with Canada's largest cities.
Every incident of police brutality is a tragedy. But the causes of police misconduct is not only due to the personal moral failings of a few officers. Cities everywhere are increasingly asking police to respond to calls they were not designed to respond to. Police today respond to significant numbers of mental health and social disorder calls. This places police in difficult situations where the cost of a mistake is high. We need a new social-service first responder who can respond to low priority social disorder and mental health calls.