Search and Rescue unit sends S.O.S. to HRM Budget Committee 

The price tag for public safety led to tense moments at Halifax City Hall as a search-and-rescue leader told a budget committee his team is woefully underfunded. 

Ron Jeppesen, president of Eastern Shore Ground Search and Rescue (ESGSR), addressed the council during the public session on Feb. 12 and said the operating budget for the unit’s four teams was $199,000 in 2024. Once the money was divvied up, each team received a little over $31,000 for their operations. 

“I would venture to say that a good many of the people in this room, perhaps all of them, have a higher household budget than the $31,000 our team got this year,” Jeppesen told HRM council. “Our team is a household of 85, and we’re growing.” 

Jeppesen said his team requested a “no frills” increase of $60,000 in 2024, as the ESGSR has to use its savings to pay for specialized equipment, major repairs to vehicles and buildings, equipment, and capital items.

ESGSR is 100 per cent volunteer based, and all of its funding comes from donations and annual public safety allotments from HRM.  

“We work for free,” said Jeppesen. “If we don’t answer call-outs because we literally can’t afford to maintain operational readiness, Fire and Police departments will get called on. And they do not work for free. They have a host of other duties that require their professional attention.”

He added that all members currently pay for their own clothing, equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Most buy second-hand, unsuitable gear, said Jeppesen, as specialized PPE can cost up to several thousand dollars per member. This gives Search and Rescue a “ragtag public face,” he said. 

“We don’t go on trails much,” Jeppsen told The Signal following the budget meeting. “We crawl through the bush on our hands and knees. So you need good clothing.

“And when we come knocking on your door after a hurricane, you want someone that looks like somebody official, not just another lost person looking for you.” 

Budget presentations conclude on Feb. 26, after which time the budget committee will vote on how to proceed with each municipal business unit’s proposals.

Panning proposed police hikes

Several community groups took to the podium to voice their opposition to the proposed police budget hikes. Halifax Regional Police is requesting $101 million, a $3.2 million increase from last year, while the RCMP is requesting an increase of $2.8 million, with $1.4 million allocated for 2025-26. 

Both forces cite an uptick in mass casualty crimes, such as the Africville shooting in August 2024 and the 2020 mass shooting in Portapique, N.S., as well as a rise in natural disasters.

Among those who panned the proposal were more than one dozen members of Community Not Cops Kjipuktuk, a local organization that calls for police to be defunded in favour of community support networks in Halifax.

“My hope for the councillors is that they actually listen,” group organizer Lou Campbell told The Signal prior to the meeting. “There’s so many people who work so hard and take so much (care) to think about what they’re going to say, and it feels like it often falls onto (councillors) who aren’t necessarily listening.” 

RCMP and HRP also requested a third armoured vehicle for the HRP’s Emergency Response Team, with a price tag of around $600,000. Community Not Cops Kjipuktuk said HRP’s description of the vehicle sounds like that of a tank.  

“I feel very horrified, but horrified towards action,” said Campbell.

Tensions rise, spectator ejected

A verbal altercation broke out  between a spectator and an HRM staff member in the public gallery halfway through the first session of the meeting. The spectator shouted, claiming the HRM staff member was accosting him, and that a councillor and the HRP officer on duty were “anti-black racists.” 

The individual was escorted out by security and Coun. Virginia Hinch, followed by an HRP officer.