Sarnia police headquarters funding reduced by city council

Sarnia police are walking away with less than they wanted in budget debates. CTV London’s Gerry Dewan has the details.

They didn’t leave empty handed, but Sarnia Police leadership walked away with far less than they were hoping for after city budget deliberations wrapped up.

Sarnia Police leadership were initially looking for a $92 million commitment for a new police headquarters.

Prior to the final budget debate they revised their request, opting for a staged building approach with a $25 million ask for the first phase. In the end, with council agreed to far less than that, with Councillor Anne Marie Gillis making the motion, “$5 million to be borrowed at, I believe, it’s 4.59 per cent.”

The Police Service had launched a social media campaign outlining shortcomings of the current headquarters. Despite that, Mayor Mike Bradley had used his strong mayor powers to pull all funding for a new headquarters from the budget deliberations. He voted against Gillis’ compromise motion telling the committee, “Despite the propaganda campaign, the response from the public has been overwhelmingly negative, saying live within your means.”

If it holds, the money committed will give the police service the opportunity to continue explore building on this city-owned property near Highway 40 and London Road.

Paul Wiersma is Chair of the Sarnia Police Services Board, “It allows us to proceed with the land development studies and the design of the facility.”

But Wiersma says delaying the project will come at a cost, “Our consultant says that we can expect a 4 per cent per year escalation cost.”

Mayor Bradley has characterized the proposed new headquarters as a Taj Mahal and a vanity project.

Sarnia Police Chief Derek Davis insists the new headquarters is not a nice to have, but a need to have, “I have obligations to our members of obligations to health and safety to their officers, safety to, you know, a functioning police facility. So, whatever the decision is today, my duties and responsibilities will also continue, and we’ll have to look towards next steps.”

There are two cards that could still be played, strong mayor powers mean Bradley could veto the $5 million committed to police. Conversely, the police service could appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. The commission is an independent body that, in part, works to ensure political decisions don’t negatively impact effective policing. Chief Davis told CTV News, “It’s an option. I think it is obviously a legislative option that’s available to any police board should they find themselves in this predicament.”

As it stands, the Sarnia budget will bring an approximately 4.3 per cent property tax increase for 2026. And Bradley notes the city was on track to be debt free by January, but with the budget revisions that goal won’t be met.