Rural MPs call on feds to act on rural crime

Jeremy Appel
Westwind Weekly News

Three Conservative MPs — Shannon Stubbs (Lakeland), Blaine Calkins (Red Deer-Lacombe) and Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg-Haute St. Charles) — are calling on the federal government to establish a strategy for fighting rural crime and hiring more RCMP officers.
Stubbs and Calkins, both representing Alberta ridings, and Paul-Hus of Quebec issued a joint statement on March 28 in favour of their Motion 167, which calls on the federal government to assess crime rates and trends across the country.
“Unfortunately, due to escalating crime rates in our rural communities, many Canadians do not feel safe in their own homes,” the MPs wrote.
“That is why we are bringing forward Motion 167, which calls on the Public Safety and National Security committee to conduct a comprehensive and current federal assessment of crime rates and trends, an analysis of RCMP, policing and staff resources, along with provincial and municipal partnerships, in rural and remote communities across Canada.
“This motion is an important first step toward making concrete recommendations that will enhance rural crime prevention and reduce emerging crime rates.”
Three Conservative MPs — Shannon Stubbs (Lakeland), Blaine Calkins (Red Deer-Lacombe) and Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg-Haute St. Charles) — are calling on the federal government to establish a strategy for fighting rural crime and hire more RCMP officers.
Stubbs and Calkins, both representing Alberta ridings, and Paul-Hus of Quebec issued a joint statement on March 28 in favour of their Motion 167, which calls on the federal government to assess crime rates and trends across the country.
“Unfortunately, due to escalating crime rates in our rural communities, many Canadians do not feel safe in their own homes,” the MPs wrote.
“That is why we are bringing forward Motion 167, which calls on the Public Safety and National Security committee to conduct a comprehensive and current federal assessment of crime rates and trends, an analysis of RCMP, policing and staff resources, along with provincial and municipal partnerships, in rural and remote communities across Canada.
“This motion is an important first step toward making concrete recommendations that will enhance rural crime prevention and reduce emerging crime rates.”
Last year, Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner MP Glen Motz helped establish a rural crime watch caucus with his fellow Alberta Conservative MPs.
For its part, Alberta’s NDP government announced in March $10 million in funding to implement a seven-point plan aimed at strengthening local policing to reduce rural crime.
The funding will go towards hiring 39 new police officers, 40 civilian staff and eight to 10 prosecutors in rural Alberta.

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