montreal police department was almost $50 million over budget in 2024
the 2025 budget foreshadows another $50-million shortfall, critics say.
2 minute read
the main factor accounting for the montreal police department's overrun is a projected $52.3 million in excess overtime, chief fady dagher, seen in a file photo, told city council's finance and administration committee.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
the montreal police department blew its operating budget by more than $48 million this year mainly because of more-than-expected overtime by its personnel, and its 2025 budget foreshadows another $50-million shortfall, critics say.
the police force, which had a budget of $820.9 million for 2024, is projecting it will finish the year $48.2 million over budget, police chief fady dagher told city council’s finance and administration committee, which held public hearings on the city of montreal’s $7.28-billion 2025 municipal operating budget this week. the main factor accounting for the overrun is a projected $52.3 million in excess overtime, he said.
critics attending the hearings said it has become an annual event for the montreal police to spend well over its budget.
moreover, despite the police force’s anticipated real spending of more than $874 million in 2024, the city is budgeting just $824.1 million for the department in 2025.
“each year, there’s a deficit and it becomes a structural deficit,” said steven erdelyi, a city councillor from côte-st-luc and one of the speakers who addressed the budgeting issue.
the police department is an agglomeration responsibility, so côte-st-luc and the island’s other demerged suburbs share the cost.
advertisement
“is it realistic to have a budget for 2025 that’s $824 million, which is about $50 million less than (real spending) this year?”
dagher said his department has to respond to unexpected events. in his presentation, for example, he said the overtime this year included $3 million for policing public protests.
dagher told the hearings that montreal officers had been deployed as of friday at 430 to 435 protests related to the conflict between israel and hamas.
erdelyi’s côte-st-luc council colleague, dida berku, has said in the past that the city of montreal systematically overestimates police revenue, such as from speeding tickets, and systematically underestimates police expenses. the police department deficit makes up a portion of the agglomeration deficit that has to then be mopped up by montreal and the suburbs, she has said.
alain vaillancourt, the projet montréal councilor responsible for public safety on the city executive committee, told erdelyi that the city and the police department are reviewing the department’s expenditures to see where savings can be made but assured it wouldn’t sacrifice protecting different communities.
“we’re reviewing together with the (montreal police) to see, as all good managers, where we can have savings, where we can be more efficient,” vaillancourt said.
advertisement
meanwhile, the official opposition at city hall called on mayor valérie plante’s projet montréal administration to buy body cameras for police officers, as it promised in the 2021 election campaign. ensemble montréal said it would propose a budget amendment for 2025 to include funding body cameras.
dagher told the hearing friday that the issuing of body cams is in the hands of the provincial government. he added that he’s in favour of them because the technology has evolved and they’re easier to use.
the center for research-action on race relations (crarr) had said it planned to attend the hearing to question the police force about the resources it would allocate to fighting hate crimes in 2025, but the public question ended without a representative of the organization getting to the microphone.
crarr executive director fo niemi said before the hearing that the activities and staffing planned to combat hate crime aren’t clear in the budget.
share story
