Province spent nearly $300K in isolation pay for workers in towns like Espanola and Killarney

The provincial government spent nearly $300,000last year on isolation pay for public workers across northern Ontario, but some of it went to civil servants and police officers working in communities that aren't very isolated.

About half of that was paid through theOntario Provincial Police'sNorthern Incentive Compensation Enhancement or NICE which cost taxpayers $165,710 in 2015, according to the province.

Officers get a one-time payment in exchange for signing on for a certain number of years in a particular detachment:

• $30,000 for twoyears: Armstrong, Moosonee and Pickle Lake;
• $25,000 for threeyears: Ear Falls, Foleyet, Gogama, Hornepayne, Ignace, Killarney, Manitouwadge, Upsala and White River;
• $15,000 for four years: Atikokan, Chapleau, Greenstone, Gore Bay, Hearst, Little Current, Manitouwaning, Marathon, Minaki, Mindemoya, Rainy River, Red Lake, Schreiber, Sioux Lookout, Sioux Narrows, Smooth Rock Falls;
• $10,000 for five years: Blind River, Cochrane, Elk Lake, Elliot Lake, Emo, Englehart, Kapuskasing, Matheson, Nipigon, Shabaqua, Still River, Temagami, Thessalon, Wawa, Kirkland Lake;
• $8,000 for six years: Dryden, Espanola, Fort Frances, Kenora, Noeville, Warren, Temiskaming Shores, Iroquois Falls.

Superintendent Marc Bedardfrom the municipal policing bureau said those premiums aren't factored in when the OPP bills towns for local policing.

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"The economics behind whether it's a good idea or not is obviously not something that falls within the OPP's mandate," Bedard said.

That's because the OPP contract is negotiated by the Ontario Treasury Board Secretariatand the Ontario Provincial Police Association.

The police union referred CBC's questions to the OPP, while the secretariat also declined an interview, but provided a statement.

"Providing isolation pay recognizes the dedication demonstrated by employees to ensure the continued provision of public services in all areas of Ontario," it read.

Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis, who has led the charge in recent years to bring down policing costs for small towns,believes communities served by the OPP should have a seat at the table when the collective agreement is struck.

"As long as municipal politicians are being asked to go to the door and get the black eye, they should have control over those costs, like they do any other costs," Politis said.

Employees who work directly for the provincial government and who are covered by the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union contract also receive a weeklypremiumfor working in certain northern towns:

• Moosonee$15.53
• Manitouwadge $10.35
• Chapleau, Terrace Bay, Geraldton, Red Lake$8.63
• Gogama, Gore Bay, Tehkummah, Wawa, Hornepayne$6.90
• Ignace, Dorion, Sioux Lookout, Nipigon $5.18

The total cost of these premiums in 2015 was $116,625, according to the province.

Politis suggested Ontario could stop offering isolation pay and instead work with northern Ontario towns to market the advantages of moving to a town like his.

"You could sell your home in southern Ontario, buy a comparable home here for a fraction of the price, put that equity in your pocket and live a beautiful lifestyle here while having money in the bank," he said.

"So I think there are opportunities to market and sell people, rather than just throwing money at it."