Public Safety committee  There is a lack of clarity on what the impact is going to be on the ground on many of these issues and hence we believe there needs to be more dialogue among everyone concerned. The summit and the focus of this committee on the economics of policing is a beginning of an indicatio

Public Safety committee  The fact that there has been a focus on this topic of economics of policing, that the national summit was brought together, and the messages from the minister indicate a willingness to begin this dialogue about roles and responsibilities. You specifically touch on the issue of t

Public Safety committee  I don't want to get into a debate between the government and the opposition on this issue. My point is that we did see value in it and we see value in continuing a dialogue around what the relationship in the future needs to be like between municipalities and the government when

Public Safety committee  It's fair to say that our members across the country, particularly those in border communities, are concerned when we talk about any cuts in some of these areas, particularly if any of these cuts end up playing out on our streets and in our communities. What worries us as municip

Public Safety committee  I think you're really getting at the crux of my point here today, which is that the lines are blurred in many of these areas in terms of which aspect of responsibility lies with which order of government. That's where we'd certainly welcome the opportunity to begin this conversat

Public Safety committee  We deal with all aspects of it, quite frankly.

Public Safety committee  The report covers a wide variety of factors that have contributed to that $500 million, but part of it is addressing crimes that traditionally have fallen under federal jurisdiction: things like cybercrime, gun smuggling, the drug trade, and so on. As a result of funding changes

Public Safety committee  Mr. Hawn, I think it's fair to say that we leave much of the specific, legislative agenda to the federal government to deal with those issues in terms of crime specifically. Our focus is on the impact of any changes that happen and how they play out on our streets, in our communi

Public Safety committee  I do know, for example, that one of the things that our partner in this discussion, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, has talked about are efficiencies in the judiciary and looking at the ways our judicial system operates and how that can help address some costs aroun

Public Safety committee  With all due respect, I'm not going to ....

Public Safety committee  I'm not going to express an opinion on the specific example that you talked about. What I will say is that anything that can help the system run more efficiently, that keeps police officers on the road as opposed to sitting in courtrooms is one factor out of many that'll help us

Public Safety committee  That's right. I'm sure that across this room, there's a wide range of opinions on how that time can be better used.

Public Safety committee  When you look at the kinds of things that police officers deal with on a daily basis in terms of addressing issues and challenges in the community, anything that can get them back on the road quicker is helpful. We've talked, for example, about some communities that have created

Public Safety committee  We do have a committee that deals with community safety and crime prevention on a regular basis. Last year, during my FCM presidency term, coinciding with the work of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police I focused part of my year on doing a nationwide consultation on the

Public Safety committee  Absolutely. I don't think you will find a police chief in this country who won't tell you that they have in effect become the 24/7 agency that deals with social services, mental health issues, and so on. In fact, today is probably an appropriate day to be talking about it, with t