Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Kothawala, I'm a proud Winnipegger. Winnipeg is a great city. It has a lot of incredible people, a lot of incredible things to do and see. One of the things that I have always thought is really cool ever since I was very young is that Winnipeg is the Slurpee capital of the world. I think that's a really cool thing.
However, one of the things I'm not proud of, based on your testimony, is that new Canadians who are coming to Canada to realize the Canadian dream are investing in franchises like 7-Eleven and other small stores that you represent and are having their hopes and dreams dashed by the soft-on-crime policies of this federal government over the last nine years. We have a catch-and-release system where people get bail, having made repeated offences, instead of jail. This government has ended mandatory jail time and has ended consecutive sentencing. As a result, we have crime running rampant in our streets.
I have three news articles out of the Winnipeg market just this week: on October 4, “Crime behind upcoming closure of four Winnipeg 7-Elevens”; on October 7, “4 Winnipeg 7-Eleven stores permanently closing amid theft concerns”; and on October 8 in the Winnipeg Free Press, “Several 7-Eleven stores in city signal imminent closures after company’s summer crime-fuelled threat”. I know that a Starbucks just closed in Osborne Village for the same reason.
I ask you in all seriousness what you would recommend this federal government do. We're going to be issuing a report. What would you like to see in that report that can preserve the Canadian dream for these amazing new Canadians who have had their hopes completely dashed by a government that prefers to let criminals go than protect our small business people, new Canadians?