Bonjour.
I am the mayor of Tahsis. Councillor Schooner is with me. Tahsis is located on the north end of Vancouver Island and is very beautiful. Come visit us.
I'm going to be speaking to you about RCMP funding and about a little bit of the history as well.
First, we would like to thank you for this opportunity to present to you, the Standing Committee on Finance. We would respectfully request that the committee consider our recommendation as part of the budget preparation process, as this affects not only our rural village of Tahsis but all small communities across Canada.
In January 2005 the funding for 215 additional RCMP officers was added by the British Columbia government. Of those 215 officers, 80 were targeted for rural communities and general policing across British Columbia. It was the biggest investment in the RCMP by the provincial government in over 20 years.
In June 2006 the RCMP made it mandatory for two officers to respond to calls whenever there is a threat of violence. Also, what the RCMP call “hubbing” began to take place: closing small, two-person outposts and redeploying staff to bolster other detachments.
Also in June of 2006, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Bill Sweeney stated in an interview with the CBC that any changes involving increased funding would require consultation with territorial and provincial governments, which pay 70% of the cost of RCMP services in small rural communities and remote areas. “All jurisdictions where we are involved in rural policing will encounter challenges around the provisions of backup,” he said.
He also stated:
It could very well be that there will be negotiations with territories and provinces with respect to increased resources. We can't ignore the fact that some jurisdictions will be affected more than others.
This year the RCMP are removing all police officers from communities of less than 5,000 that have a single member stationed in them. Increased funding is desperately required to facilitate RCMP to protect citizens residing in rural communities. Since it is unsafe to have one-member stations, the required need is for two-member stations.
The federal service plan states that the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General works to maintain and enhance public safety in every community across the province. It is not possible for this service to be implemented if the funding is not available for the RCMP to implement it. Therefore, the Village of Tahsis respectfully requests that the Standing Committee on Finance add additional funding to the RCMP budget and that the funding be targeted for increased policing in rural communities.
Once again, the Village of Tahsis thanks you for this opportunity to present our recommendations.