Vancouver's Police Board responds to news that their budget is held to zero y/oy by arguing that "fixed cost obligations" mean it isn't zero, so hey, frontline layoffs! Literally 00s of municipal budget units in Canada have had to cope quietly w/ 0% after-CPI in recent memory - https://twitter.com/VanPoliceBoard/status/1336788815420084224

(2) ...and often, they've been doing it to help fund routine police dept increases gobbling up budget room at 2x or 3x inflation, much of it to fund officer & manager pay soaring past the rate of inflation as well. This isn't "defunding." It's... 0%, for one FY. Cry me a river.

(3) Frankly, I'm at the point where I'm willing to bet cash money to the Chief that with 20 ?s & access to historic line by lines, I could find 80%+ of the gap w/out touching one patrol FTE. I've been too quiet about my own (complicated) views on Cdn policing for awhile, and I -

(3) - will remedy that soon. But to be clear, turning a 0% budget hold into some sort of litmus test for support for frontline cops isn't just absurd; it's a confession that some well paid managers simply can't manage money, and should be let go to make way for those who can.

(4) Let's remember: the money printer goes brrr, but it doesn't go brrr for everyone. Cdn cities are planning for Y2 of a broken economy right now, and Vancouver Council took a beating months ago for not choosing to cut first before the Mayor 'dared' to ask other govts for help -

(5) (- even though pundits who lashed out were often inconsistent in applying that rage, cheering as Ottawa & Victoria kept their civil services intact on borrowed or BoC $ while bashing Vancouver for essentially seeking access to the same rescue $ to a smaller degree)

(6) So the real question here isn't why the Chief can't handle a freeze in Vancouver's biggest budget amid fiscal pressure literally everyone saw coming months ago. It's why he + the Board hadn't already teed up savings to *anticipate* the inevitable ask for a freeze, months ago.

(7) I will have more to say.