Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is telling Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu to buzz off with his warnings about not defunding police services..“I’m not really into veiled threats. If you want to make a threat, make a threat,” Nenshi told reporters..“The whole thing was, frankly, a bit ridiculous..Nenshi noted all the revenue to Calgary the UCP government has cut..“Look, we’re having incredibly critical, incredibly important, nuanced conversations with the grown ups in the room,” said Nenshi..“To time a ridiculous letter with ridiculous slogans in it, while we’re having this adult conversation just shows you’re not really interested in being part of that conversation.”.On Thursday, Madu wrote letters to the mayors Calgary and Edmonton warning them against any moves to defund police forces in their cities..Nenshi said earlier this month it’s time for the Calgary Police Service to cut their budget..“I’ve made it extremely clear my opinion on the matter to the police chief, which is that every other department at the city has faced austerity over the last six years and it is time for the police to show us cost savings,” Nenshi said..“I’ve also been very clear on the fact that we need a better mental health response system, we need different work that does a better job on fighting institutional racism in the city. Perhaps, some of that funding can come from the police.”.But in his letter Madu said any move to defund police services is “misguided.”.Madu said “racalized” groups such as Aboriginals, who are often victims of crime who need police protection..“So in contrast with what some groups are claiming, reduced police funding poses risks – not benefits – to those groups,” Madu wrote..“Alberta’s government will closely monitor how municipalities are managing their police budgets as well as responding to calls to “defund the police”. It should be clear that any substantial changes may lead us to explore options to ensure we maintain adequate funding for critical law enforcement for Alberta citizens.”.Iveson told reporters in Edmonton: “As minister of municipal affairs, (Madu) was very keen on scrubbing down our budgets. Now, as minister of justice, to suggest that we should not be looking at our largest cost centre — which is policing — seems a bit ironic to me.”.Edmonton council has removed $11 million from the 2021 police budget of around $389 million and approved 20 proposals to reform policing..The issue of cutting police budgets has been a hot topic for months following the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis..Protesters have taken to the streets across North American demanding money be taken out of police budgets and used to create more social programming.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .CPS members are meeting with city council Thursday to propose shifting some of their funding into social service agencies they work with..Part of their presentation involves a large mea culpa signed by Chief Mark Neufeld and his deputy chiefs..The letter states CPS is “committed to addressing systemic racism” in the service.. cpsletter-1 .“We know by the very foundation by which policing was created was inherently racist,” the letter states..The letter notes CPS members have met with BLM officials and other marginalized communities..“We humbly apologize for the harm we have caused,” it reads..Calgary councillor Sean Chu on Thursday made it clear what side he is on..Chu pointed out a city citizen satisfaction survey found 80 per cent of Calgarians are pleased with CPS..“We should defund Council instead!” he tweeted..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
