Madam Speaker, the closing of nine regional RCMP detachments in regional Quebec can leave no one indifferent, with the exception of the Minister of Public Security herself. I must point out that the withdrawal of the RCMP leaves us with one less eye out against organized crime in the regions and is as well a cause of major concern to our fellow citizens in the rural areas involved.
The main justification for these closures according to the RCMP brass is rationalization of operations by centralizing personnel at strategic points, where there is a concentration of organized crime in a region, they tell us.
If they want to convince us of that theory, they will also have to convince all stakeholders in the nine regions, including nine MPs and mayors, who are not in the least sold on the justification for these RCMP decisions. There is, however, a very glaring example to the contrary, which I will explain.
In 1997, the federal government abolished the port police. The national police association warned the government about the potential increase in drug and arms trafficking at the ports, but to no avail. Today, the Minister of Transport is injecting $115 million to remedy this mistake by his predecessor.
And is the minister now prepared to commit the same error? They say that wisdom lies in learning from one's mistakes; where is this minister's wisdom?
On October 7, in response to the question asked by the member for Nova Centre, which was repeated by the hon. member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin this past Friday, the Minister of Public Safety told us that she had held broad based consultations, including the Sûreté du Québec. But where did these consultations take place, and with whom, exactly? Our sources say these consultations never took place. Moreover, they say that rural RCMP detachments had better success rates than urban ones in solving crimes.
The RCMP does not have the financial resources needed to adequately protect the public. I think that the problem lies in the following equation: no money equals no resources. The question answers itself.
The minister keeps saying that the number of RCMP officers in Quebec will remain the same. In fact, budgets will remain the same as well. So, how will we be able to pay the cost of these officers' travel to distant regions without adding new money for transportation expenses? The answer is simple: without the money to travel, the RCMP officers will no longer go out to the regions.
The minister is using Ontario as her model, but intelligence gathered electronically by the RCMP in Ontario reveals that traffickers will be going through northern Ontario, because there are no longer any police officers there. It is clear that closing RCMP detachments is synonymous with opening the doors to crime.
At one meeting between members of Parliament and representatives of the RCMP, we were told that, even if the officers were relocated to urban areas, they would maintain contact with their informants or informers. How can they do that, since they are no longer in the area? What will the informers do if they find out about a deal? Will they take the time to phone the police to inform them about the next shipment of drugs or weapons?
In order for the minister to avoid future blame for her error in judgment in closing these detachments, will she realize today that there must be an immediate moratorium on such closures?