I apologize. We have only a short period of time, although I welcome all of you to please feel free to follow up with the committee if you have specific recommendations or further evidence you'd like to submit. Note in those submissions that they can be distributed and made public as well.
I've heard from a host of constituents. In fact, I have in front of me an email from a constituent who talks about a known criminal attempting to steal their truck and having stolen their neighbour's truck in a rural area. They had camera evidence but it wasn't seen to be quite enough. They talked about the whole reign of terror of these known petty thieves who are stealing vehicles.
In your opening statements you talked about the cost this has and how it's not a victimless crime. Not only does it terrify and victimize and, in many cases, traumatize the individuals who have seen significant violations, but it also has a significant impact on the cost of living. Insurance rates are not included in the inflationary index, yet we're seeing significant increases in the cost of insurance, which is of course essential for anybody in our large country. In rural areas, we don't have public transit, so you have to own a vehicle.
I am just wondering if you can share with the committee how we reconcile that there's an incentive to make sure that vehicles are not stolen, and there's an incentive to make sure that these thieves, in many cases on bail.... In some cases, they have stolen a vehicle and been arrested, and the same day they are back out on the streets, stealing more vehicles. I can point to a number of examples.
What's the picture here to make sure we can deal with it so that ultimately Canadians can save on insurance costs? The cost of vehicles over the last couple of years is up 20%. That's a massive cost and a contributor to inflation, which is not tracked in the government's numbers. I'd like to hear your feedback about how we stop this and ensure that, ultimately, Canadians aren't having to pay the price for the host of circumstances leading to massive increases in costs.