Crime Prevention Funding Announcement

Remarks given by
Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety

RCMP main detachment, Vancouver, B.C.
August 23, 2007
As delivered

Thank you, Pierre [Sergeant Pierre Lemaître, RCMP "E" Division], for your introduction. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the warm welcome and for the interest in what we're announcing today.

In my opinion, the first responsibility of any level of government is the safety and security of its citizens. These are the things that our citizens expect: safe streets and safe communities where our children can play, where our seniors can walk and where people can conduct their business without fear.

It's much appreciated that we can be here today at Division E to make this announcement. I've been here before, and I went on an in-depth tour of the facility. I saw the good work that's being done by the RCMP and also with the other police forces with whom they share the vital information that helps them do their job.

When it comes to safety and security, the Government of Canada approaches the issue on a number of levels. We know it's important to have enough officers on the streets to be able to do the job of providing safety and security. In our last budget, we committed to see 1,000 more RCMP personnel from coast to coast to coast.

That is already under way. Then there's $37 million that has gone into the expansion in Regina at Depot to be able to accommodate that. We've also made a commitment of 2,500 municipal officers across the country.

Now, the federal program for the RCMP is fully funded by the federal government. The municipal program will be cost-shared with the provinces. I've entered into discussions with my counterparts, the Solicitors General and Attorneys General across the country in terms of how that program should look and what will be the optimal cost sharing agreement.

When it comes to security, we've also hired 400 more border officers to cover places where across the country and remote situations, officers were actually alone. You've seen considerable investment go into the training and the acquisition of side arms for border officers also across the country. The first class of those graduated about two weeks ago, another class is graduating next week and that is moving along. We're keeping up with these commitments. That's on the enforcement side.

In terms of equipping our police officers and our court systems with the tools to do the job of dealing with crime, especially serious crime, we looked at legislation. And so we have legislation moving through in some key areas. We think, for instance, that a person who has committed multiple serious crimes, that there should be a point at which they are deemed to be dangerous offenders. I feel the same frustrations as citizens do when we see a report of somebody who's committed a serious crime and they continue to be able to access statutory parole and walk the streets and present a danger to citizens.

As much as I believe in rehabilitation and that there can be a change in a person's heart and they can return to a positive role in society, there are also cases where people simply need to be deemed as dangerous and kept behind bars so that our citizens are safe.

We also have legislation about gun crimes. We believe that repeat offences with firearms should require mandatory jail time. And so we have legislation to that effect. We believe that that there should be a point at which, depending on their record and how many crimes they've committed, it's up to the offender to show that they should be getting bail and not up to the government. That's called reversed onus. And again, for serious repeat crimes.

We hear from police organizations across the country that to assist them with the pursuit and apprehension of predators on the Internet and other places who are out to exploit children, that we should raise the age of sexual consent between minors and adults. We're talking about activity between minors and adults. In Canada, it's still 14 years old, one of the lowest in the free world. In many jurisdictions, it's 18. And we want to raise it to 16. So we are taking steps on the legislative side to try and do things, on the enforcement side, to try and do things to keep our country even safer and more secure than it already is.

On the enforcement side and on the legislative side, those are some of the things we're doing. And just as we need, as I call it "the long arm of the law" to keep our streets safe, we need the "open arms of the community." And that's where we look to the community at the local level to provide the type of outreach and the programming that would work in a preventive way or provide alternatives—especially to young people—that would keep them from getting into a cycle of crime, which can result in severe consequences for them for their whole life and consequences for others who are victims of crime.

That's what we're talking about today. It's the National Crime Prevention Program. I made an announcement several months ago of $16.1 million to local groups and local agencies who know what's happening on the ground in their areas. They have the programs and we've come up with two words to define which programs should get funding, and it's quite simply "What works?"

What works? What are you doing that you know can work to reduce crime, and especially, youth at risk?

And so, we don't come into a community as the federal government and say here's the federal program that we've designed; now you put it in place. We recognize that programs are working at the local level, sometimes with police organizations, sometimes with provincial departments of Justice, many times with local non-profit agencies and organizations. You're the ones who know what works on the street; you know what you're dealing with.

With that in mind, I'm pleased to announce $2.7 million to nine different organizations here and around the province that will be reaching out in the area of crime prevention, reaching out to young people, reaching out to families at risk, making our streets safer and more secure and providing alternatives to young people who otherwise might be heading in the wrong direction.

I'd like to acknowledge the groups. Hello to the Vancouver Native Health Society. Then there's the Surrey School District #36 that has a great program that's being funded. Thank you for being here. It's an exciting program called Straight Talk. The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and The British Columbia Crime Prevention Association, thank you. The BC Crime Prevention and Community Safety Resource Network. The Young Women's Christian Association of Vancouver. They're doing great work. Thank you for being here for that.

The Prince George Urban Aboriginal Justice Society, the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society for their Safety Futures Program. The Port Alberni Women's Resources Society and Selkirk College with a program called Boundary Comprehensive Community Safety Initiative.

This gives you a picture of communities who care, communities that have answers and communities that are coming forward with solutions.

I want to thank those of you who are here in those organizations and those who are in their organizations today and working on these particular projects. I believe there is going to be an impact on the individuals that are touched by these particular groups. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your interest and thank you for the good work that you're doing and which we are pleased to fund today.

Thank you.