Mr. Speaker, yesterday I met with police officers from my home province of Saskatchewan. They were all members of the Canadian Police Association.
They expressed many concerns to me, the most alarming of which was that they felt people were losing faith in the criminal justice system. One of the reasons they cited was cutbacks in resources to fight real crime, while hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted on gun registration. Seventy-six per cent of CPA members in Saskatchewan voted against Bill C-68.
Biker gangs, native gangs and organized crime are moving into Saskatchewan. Drug trafficking is on the increase. They said people want to feel safe or they do not want to be there.
They said crimes are not going down, there are just fewer police to detect them. They said people are so frustrated they are not bothering to report crimes any more.
When is the government going to start putting tax dollars where the police think they will do the most good?