Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was in Ottawa meeting the Minister of Justice, not the Minister responsible for the RCMP. I didn’t have that discussion with the Minister of Justice. I was talking more about Bill C-10.
We recognize that community safety and enforcement is a priority, and the Member and I have had a number of conversations and I think we’re of like minds. We want to find some way to help the small communities.
There are 10 communities that do not have policing. Of those, two have money for policing but we don’t have any infrastructure in the communities so we’re not able to permanently locate RCMP in those communities. That is some work that we have to continue on.
With respect to communities like Colville, the RCMP is looking at some alternatives to help, such as creating additional detachments. We don’t know if that’s a possibility but it’s something that we’re always looking at. Increasing relief unit capacity. Increasing the number and length of patrols to the community so that we have people in the communities more often. Adding RCMP community officers who would act as a liaison between the RCMP and the community. These are things that we’re looking at, but most importantly – and following up on conversations I’ve had with my colleague – we need to get into some of these communities and talk to the people in the communities about what they think is going to work best for them and see if we can come up with some community solutions. I’m looking forward to doing that with the Member after Christmas sometime. Thank you.