Status of Women committee  I'm just going to say that if they take a large item, say a vehicle, it is worth your while to put in a claim and deal with the insurance company. However, a lot of them, when it's tools and that, are smaller items, and your deductible minimum is going to be $2,500. When it's smaller stuff, those things just go by the wayside.

Status of Women committee  It's the same in Saskatchewan in our area. In a 10-mile radius, I would say 80% of the residents have been victimized, not only once but on numerous occasions, vehicles being stolen out of their yards and that sort of thing. It's for sure several times.

Status of Women committee  No. We have security cameras inside the shop building and outside in the yard. We've had video of these culprits coming in, but they're wearing masks or they have their hoods up. They're smart enough to have their backs to where they see the cameras. Therefore, it's of no use to the police when we show it to them.

Status of Women committee  It used to be that the first thing you did was call for assistance from the RCMP. However, now it's to the point where people are saying, “What's the point?” It's a waste of time to be sitting on the phone trying to get through to somebody, and the response time is so long.

Status of Women committee  Yes. It used to be that you hoped for a big snowstorm so the roads were bad; the back roads would be blocked off and they didn't have access to shoot across a field. Now they're coming with four-by-four vehicles and they can plow through those snowbanks. Time of year or time of day doesn't matter to them anymore.

Status of Women committee  I could add to that. Our cell service in rural Saskatchewan is absolutely horrible. At our farm it's not uncommon to go an hour or more with absolutely no cell service whatsoever. If you're actually at the house, you probably will have a bit of cell service that you can rely on, but it's not reliable at all.

Status of Women committee  I totally agree with what she's saying. It's not always local ones. We're about an hour east of the Alberta border, so you share your criminals with us. Sometimes they cross the border. A lot of ours as well are coming out of the gangs, out of Lloydminster and North Battleford.

Status of Women committee  Most definitely.

Status of Women committee  Yes, that would help a lot, because it's very true. When you know one has gone into jail for some time, you can breathe a sigh of relief because that one isn't out on the road right now. However, they seem to replace them with someone else who's quite available.

Status of Women committee  I totally agree with the last statement. It's exactly what I'm going to be saying. Mine's written out here. My name is Wendy Rewerts. I'm from Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, a rural community situated in north-central Saskatchewan. I have lived in Saskatchewan all of my life. I'm married and have two sons who are married.