The next time the City of Moose Jaw publishes its annual public accounts report — which shows all salaries, expenses, and grants over $50,000 — police officers could be in a separate document.
During the June 28 regular council meeting, city council voted to receive and file the 2020 public accounts report and post the document to the municipality’s website. A review of the document shows 92 city employees made more than $100,000 last year; 15 were city hall staff, while 77 were police and firefighters.
The highest-paid police officers were:
- Police Chief Rick Bourassa: $175,110.20
- Sgt. Taylor Elder: $153,795.83
- Supt. Brent Mackey: $149,857.76
- Supt. Richard McKenna: $149,857.76
- Supt. Devon Oleniuk: $149,857.76
- Const. Jay Sills (19 years with police): $146,918.95
- Cpl. Randell Boechler: $146,654.04
- Cpl. Christopher Flanagan: $145,071.12
Meanwhile, deputy Fire Chief Michael Russell earned $147,746.83 in regular pay and $245.84 in other pay, while Fire Chief Rod Montgomery earned $159,552.17 in regular pay and $1,237.60 in other pay.
Council discussion
The provincial government recently discussed the Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (LA FOIP) Act and how police services — which are independent organizations — come under that act, said Mayor Fraser Tolmie, also the chairman of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners.
While officers’ salaries above $50,000 are published in the city’s public accounts, the police board recently discussed a motion to publish those salaries as a separate report, he continued. One challenge the oversight board faces are potential misunderstandings with the regulations about publishing such information.
The requirement that the municipality publishes all salaries of employees and related entities has been in place since 1988 and is an annual requirement that every city in Saskatchewan must follow, while LAFOIP came into effect in 1993, said city clerk/solicitor Myron Gulka-Tiechko. All salaries in Moose Jaw are published in alphabetical order, while other cities create a special section in their annual reports for police salaries.
“This practice has been in place for over 30 years, and unless the province directs a different process, we are obliged to follow the existing procedure,” he added.
More conversation is needed about separating officers’ remuneration, which is what the police board wants to happen since the police service provides a service to the city, said Tolmie. He also wanted to be sure that council was properly following the regulations of two different organizations.
Tolmie then put forward a motion to recognize the police board’s goal of publishing police salaries above $50,000 separately from the public accounts report in future documents. However, Gulka-Tiechko said that would be better as a notice of motion, so the mayor withdrew his recommendation and said he would bring it back at another time.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 12.
