McGuinty defends 8.5% pay hike for OPP

The Liberal government is standing by an 8.5 per cent pay hike for the Ontario Provincial Police in 2014, which the Opposition says cancels out a public sector wage freeze meant to combat the deficit.

The contract for 6,100 OPP officers guarantees them the highest salaries in the province. So, despite a five per cent increase this year leading up to the two-year freeze, the OPP are entitled to another bump in three years.

Though the province promised to hold the wages of one million of its workers to tackle a $6.3-billion shortfall, negotiations have been tough as no law exists to enforce such a move.

“I think it was completely irresponsible of this government to negotiate that kind of an agreement at a time when people are losing their jobs, when many people don’t have pension plans, when people are really struggling,” said deputy Progressive Conservative Leader Christine Elliott. “It really doesn’t set a good tone for all of the other negotiations.”

But Premier Dalton McGuinty argued the OPP has to stay competitive with other police services in the province and, in particular, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan blamed Toronto’s salaries for setting the bar.

“We do have to catch up to Toronto as a result of the agreement they signed,” Duncan said. “We’ve negotiated a deal now that isn’t as generous as the one given by Toronto by any measure.”

Toronto’s Police Services Board claims it was the other way around, and that the OPP deal weakened municipalities’ bargaining position with police.

“I must say that decisions made at the provincial level are largely responsible for (the Toronto police) deal,” board chair Alok Mukherjee wrote in an open letter to McGuinty. “The province has repeatedly taken steps to set a pattern of steadily increasing costs in policing.”

Duncan admitted the province could also end up negotiating hefty raises with other public sector unions, such as teachers, for the year after their wages are frozen.

With files from the Canadian Press