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At last week's general committee meeting, the city council approved the budgets for the police, library, and Simcoe County. 

Mayor Alex Nuttall and the Council prioritized increasing the police budget while cutting back spending in other areas.

In line with his priority, this year the police budget has seen a seven percent increase. 

Except for Councillors Clare Ripma, Bry Hamilton, and Amy Courser, no other councillors questioned the police budget or demanded accountability from the police. 

Councillor Hamilton expressed her hope that she would receive more information from the police in the future to make an appropriate analysis and comparison. Councillor Riepma questioned the notion that more policing leads to greater safety and instead suggested focusing on root causes and social services. Lastly, Councillor Courser asked for more transparency regarding where money is being spent next year.

At the same time, the Library budget was cut without giving them any opportunity to voice their concerns. The Library, however, has significant back-up funds.

Councillor Sergio Morales, who had not received answers to his questions from the police, also demanded more transparency from the County. Mayor Nuttall also called for accountability from the County. 

The Province has the main authority over City's relationship with the county and police, and Mayor Nuttall has expressed a need to reach out to the Province in order to demand more accountability from the county. However, he has shown no interest in engaging with the county in demanding the same level of accountability from the police.

Time Stamps

0:00 Intro

0:01:23 Police Budget

0:26:40 Library Budget

0:40:20 Simcoe County Budget