There’s a reason the police never say “we’re asking for $3.6 million more this year.” Instead, you’ll hear “just a 6.5% increase.” Or better yet: “a reduction from last year’s increase.” These aren’t facts — they’re framing devices. Public relations wrapped in math.
The Sarnia Police Service Board’s most recent media release is a masterclass in this strategy. They’ve approved a two-year budget projection, with spending set to reach $38.7 million in 2026 and $40.8 million in 2027. But instead of discussing what those millions will actually do — or what we’re not funding instead — the release reassures us that “successive annual reductions in the budgetary increase percentage” are being achieved. In other words: “Sure, we’re still spending more money every year. Just slower.”
Most of us are still trying to figure out what they did with the last $9 million we gave them — and they’re out here throwing around phrases like “successive annual reductions”? That’s not restraint. That’s austerity theatre.
Even The Observer got swept up in it, quoting a board member who called 6.5% “a little bit more palatable” than 6.9%. As if a slightly smaller spoonful of sugar justifies the medicine. The focus shifts away from the $38 million we’re actually spending, and toward the illusion of discipline.
It’s the same play Chief Davis used when he started floating a $60 million police headquarters. He didn’t pitch it all at once. First came $200,000 for a feasibility study. Then $500,000 for architectural design. Each step was “modest.” Each request reasonable. And by the time full funding is on the table, the question won’t be whether we should build it. It’ll be whether we can afford not to — now that we’ve already sunk so much in.
This is how political consent gets manufactured in Sarnia. Not through bold declarations, but through quiet percentages and polite phrases. Not through debates about values, but through line items and “right-sizing.” It’s not transparency. It’s storytelling.
And let’s be honest about what story is being told.
This week’s budget presentation hit all the right buzzwords: “efficiencies,” “complex needs,” “modern and professional.” It even featured a slide showing crime stats — all in percentages. Calls up 2.2%. Break-and-enters down 11%. Mental health calls up 2.6%. It sounds official. But two percent of what?
No baseline. No raw numbers. Just vibes. And those vibes? That’s the point. Because when people believe the work is more complicated, they’re more likely to accept the cost of complexity — and the “modern” force that promises to manage it. More officers. More staff. More reserves. More HR.
Meanwhile, community advocates spent over a decade trying to get a rec centre off the ground — a facility that could serve kids, athletes, and newcomers year-round. They were asked for studies, letters, private donations, and more. But Davis gets half a million for a drawing, no questions asked.
Or take housing. Look at how hard it’s been just to get a single piece of property approved to build homes.
So the next time you hear the word “just” in front of a percentage, ask what they’re not saying. Ask what it means to treat policing like it’s exempt from tradeoffs. Ask why the city always seems to find money for uniforms, but never enough for prevention. Or housing.
Because no matter how small they make the number sound, the bill keeps coming. And it won’t be paid with percentages.
It’ll be paid with your taxes and with the future your kids could have had in this city.