CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter was sent in response to a previously published article about Collingwood's OPP costs increasing by 37 per cent in 2025.
The recent news that the OPP has dropped a huge budget increase on the Town of Collingwood is outrageous and should stir us to action.
Because of an ill-considered decision made by a past council our once local force was disbanded and the OPP were invited to take over policing for the town.
What most of us did not realize is that, henceforth, we would relinquish control over police matters and that cost increases would be non-negotiable.
Ever since the fateful decision to turn things over there have been noticeable changes, Whereas most of us knew some local members of the force the opposite is true today.
Most officers are new and unknown to the community. Calls for assistance go to a central command centre. Police presence monitoring traffic is seldom seen compared to days gone by. As a result, it's often a free for all on our roads. Speeding is rampant.
Let us encourage council to renegotiate our contract with the OPP or end it and return to a local force. Barrie has its own as does Toronto.
Al Truscott
Collingwood, Ont.
