The Orillia Police Services Board is hoping it won’t lose out under the province’s revamped grants program.
Last fall, the province announced it was undertaking a review of the existing grants. It scrapped a number of them and has introduced the Community Safety and Policing grant.
The board learned at its meeting this week that the province has earmarked $75,000 for Orillia, annually until 2022.
Despite that information, the board still needs to submit an application and indicate how the money will be used, how it will address local needs and how those projects will be implemented.
While the expected amount of money for Orillia represents a 25 per cent reduction in funding from previous years, officials aren’t sounding the alarm bells yet. The $75,000 comes from the local priorities funding stream. The province is also giving boards a chance to apply for additional funding under a provincial priorities stream. Those applications must focus on addressing one or more of the province’s three priorities: gun- and gang-related violence, sexual violence and harassment, and human trafficking.
“We have seen an increase in handgun seizures over the past year, so anything we can do to address that (would be welcomed),” said Orillia OPP Insp. Veronica Eaton.
She couldn’t provide more details about the increase, but said it could aid the board in getting more money from the provincial funding stream.
“It gives us an opportunity to do different things with the grant application and go in a different direction,” she said.
Coun. Rob Kloostra, a member of the board, is also hopeful. Asked if the amount that has been set aside for Orillia will cause challenges for the board, he said, “It’s hard to say.”
“Maybe there will be more money available,” Kloostra said.
The board’s application must be submitted by June 6. Police and board officials will be working together on the application, a draft of which will be presented during a special meeting at a date to be determined.
