Certainly, I can speak specifically for the CACP and within Ontario, which has a large northern section of communities. I do want to advocate for investment in indigenous policing. For far too long in our country it's been underfunded, underinvested in and undersupported.
The reality is that the fundamental root of policing is that police officers are citizens of the community they serve. What we're seeing in many different mechanisms is that police officers are no longer living in the community they serve. That attachment, that commitment to the neighbourhoods that they live within, that they serve, where their children grow up, where they've actually come from, is an important piece.
In remote communities, we should be working actively to promote policing as a profession, as an occupation, and providing the skill sets, the training and the education to support those in remote communities who may not have access to post-secondary education without leaving their community. We should be doing everything we possibly can and actually create an investment to ensure that those who live within remote communities can provide policing services.
There are challenges with that, particularly in the role we have in a complex society, but we do believe this committee should look at the ability to support remote communities to hire local people who know the community, who understand the issues and can bring value added. It's very difficult when you transcend into a community to fully understand it.