I mentioned witness protection, but I put the word “funded” in front of it. The Government of Canada, through the oversight of the RCMP, does have a federal witness protection program, and it's a very good one. I have absolutely no criticism of the program.
But for me to use it, I have to pay the costs. In the last few years, it has cost me somewhere in the area of $800,000 to $900,000 to put people into this program. I turn the witness over to the RCMP and then they bill me for the use of the program. It's not uncommon to get a bill every couple of months for $40,000 or $50,000. We write the cheque and away it goes.
Right now I probably have four or five people in that program. It is very costly. That's why I was hoping someone would look into it. I've brought this up in other federal forums. About 60 miles up the road from me there is a small police department that had to do the same thing. It was a small department of about 35 people, and they had to go to their council to get the money to put somebody into the program.
This is something we need. With all the technology and all the investigative hours, you may still need a good insider who wants to come work with you, and you have to be able to afford to do that type of thing. The program we have is good. What I'm concerned about is the affordability of the program.