Close to three months after issuing their invoice, the province has still not received payment from Boonstock festival organizers for policing costs.
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On Sept. 5, a month after the August long weekend festival, the province invoiced Boonstock for nearly $177,000, the province’s 70 per cent portion of the $250,000 RCMP costs.
“The province invoiced the promoter on September 5 for $176,901.10. No payment has been received yet and the province has been in contact with the promoters urging payment,” Perry Clark, executive director on the Ministry of Justice’s Policing and Security Branch, said in a release.
“The $250,000 that the RCMP have cited represents the total costs at 100 per cent. It is up to the federal government to invoice the remaining 30 per cent.”
Policing costs were originally expected to be in the $150,000 range, but spiralled upwards when RCMP identified gaps in private security contracted for the event and called in additional officers to compensate. The RCMP said Boonstock generated 150 police files that saw 38 people lodged in city cells.
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Boonstock president Colin Kobza has not returned requests for an interview. He has previously stated he wanted to see a breakdown of the RCMP bill before paying.
According to a previous government release, salaries represented 76 per cent of the policing costs for the event. The remaining 24 per cent was for accommodations, transportation, meals and incidentals, and other costs, which included everything from $452.84 for various types of disposable handcuffs, $134.40 for sunscreen and $309.75 to have police cars cleaned, including removing blood and vomit from the interior.
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