Why are police budgets increasing across Canada?

By The Big Story

In today’s Big Story podcast, almost three years ago, George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing protests brought the idea of defunding the police into the mainstream, and made the concept palatable to many Canadians. And yet, with police budgets increasing in most cities across Canada, it seems that momentum has yet to translate into tangible social change.

Ted Rutland is an associate professor of geography, planning and environment at Concordia University. He joins us to discuss the politics behind police budgets, and what we know about how that money is being spent.

“They’ve managed to cement the idea that more police and more police funding, equals more safety, so it’s a riskier move for a city council to say we’re going to force them to obey their budget,” he said.

So what happened to the defund movement? What are some common misconceptions about its actual aims? And although police unions and politicians seem to have won the current PR battle, is the defund ideology too entrenched at this point to really be defeated?

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You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

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