Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my friend and neighbour, the member for Yorkton—Melville, on his birthday today. He has been involved with law enforcement issues for a long time. Law enforcement was not an issue in my riding for years but lately towns like Debert and Stewiacke are experiencing enforcement challenges unheard of years ago.
There are several reasons for this, but one thing is clear. The RCMP in Nova Scotia does not have the resources to provide the minimum level of law enforcement required.
Last February, senior RCMP officers confirmed to me that Nova Scotia just does not have the money to hire enough officers. At that time the minister assured me that the money would be made available. That has not happened.
Now small communities in my riding and all over Nova Scotia are experiencing problems and the RCMP just does not have the officers or the money to handle it.
I again ask the minister to help the RCMP to return to a minimum level of acceptable law enforcement in Nova Scotia by simply providing it with the money.