Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's very insightful speech today. It indeed honoured the former member of Parliament, Chuck Cadman.
It is a well known fact that we do not have enough police officers on the front lines in our Canadian cities and across the country. A point was well taken about the fact that it is not the intention of members on this side of the House to penalize youth. Our intention is to guide them and to help. Many police officers have a very expanded role that is not talked about very often. They are the first responders on a crime scene. In other words, they are the first people there.
I remember a young child who was brutalized by a perpetrator a couple of years ago and I talked to the police officer who was on the scene. He found her crying in a garage. The young girl's family told me that it was due to the kindness and gentleness of the police officer that the girl now is well adjusted and getting past this crime.
Could the member please comment on the intent and what we as members on this side of the House want to do in terms of curtailing crime and to help the victims of crime in this instance?