Vancouver’s mayor wants clarification on why the federal government is funding con-air flights for RCMP detachments but not for municipal police.
“It’s not right that property taxpayers in Vancouver have to pay to have them returned to where they committed their crimes,” Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said yesterday.
In January, Vancouver police began flying people wanted on non-returnable (city or provincewide) warrants home to the jurisdictions where they were charged.
The program, dubbed con air, received $40,000 from the province and donated frequent-flyer points, but has not garnered federal funding.
On Saturday, however, CTV reported that RCMP in Prince George used federal funds to transport three people out of province.
In a pre-budget submission in February, Sullivan had requested federal funding for con air, or failing that, legislation that would require provinces to pick up the tab.
This week, Sullivan plans to follow-up that request and to find out whether the three people in Prince George were sent home on the federal dime.
