The president of the city’s police association is calling for Saint Johners to come together to help fix the city’s growing financial crisis.
At last week’s meeting, council voted to approve a nearly $1.2-million cut to the city’s police force budget.
Duane Squires issued an open letter on behalf of the Saint John Police Association, saying now is not the time to point fingers, but to work together.
“The premise behind the open letter is to try to ignite some passion within our citizens, residents, community groups, businesses, city councillors, and hopefully our MLAs,” Squires said. “We have to start working together.”
In addition to the $1.175 million in approved cuts to the police force, council also tasked city staff with coming up with an additional $1 million in payroll cuts to help balance its $10-million deficit.
Squires says it’s time for residents to push MLAs to help the city get out of its rut.
“It’s a matter of making partnerships and coming together,” he said. “We need to work together in order for Saint John to get what it deserves.”
The open letter calls for tax reform in order to help overcome the city’s looming deficit.
“Nobody wants to see Saint John fail,” Squires said. “Right now we’re set up for failure.”
