Mr. Chair, it is my pleasure to open the debate this evening on the subject of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and, more generally, law enforcement in Canada. The debate is an important opportunity for members of the House to recognize and reflect on the role of this vibrant and vital Canadian institution.
As we all know, in recent weeks the members of this proud organization have also been in our hearts. This is because the deaths of four young officers, Constable Anthony Gordon, Constable Lionide Johnston, Constable Brock Myrol and Constable Peter Schiemann, barely one month ago, were a terrible loss. We continue to remember their families as they deal with their grief and try to begin life anew without their sons, brothers and husbands.
The events that took place in Mayerthorpe are a cruel reminder of how much courage and sacrifice is required of the men and women in our national police force. RCMP officers are hard at work every day, often under dangerous circumstances, to ensure that our communities are safer places to live and work.
If we know peace, order and good government in this country, it is thanks to the men and women of our national police service who step forward to defend it. They preserve our civil society, our rights and, as their motto says, they “Maintiens le Droit”.
It is therefore telling, and not surprising, that Canadians mourned with the families of the four dead officers. An entire nation was affected as if we had lost members of our own family. When such losses take place, it is natural to recall the kindnesses, achievements and personalities of those people we have lost. It is worth asking how it is that the loss of these four young men, strangers to all but a handful of Canadians, provoked these same feelings in so many of us from coast to coast to coast.
The answer is quite simple. They were Mounties, members of the force. Mounties who gave their lives in the service of Canada and Canadians.
It takes more than a recognizable uniform to earn and keep the trust and respect that has endured for more than a century in relation to the force. This is why this evening I expect that my colleagues will highlight different elements of our national police service.
The proud beginnings of this institution begin with the Northwest Mounted Police and the part it played in the opening up of the west.
Today, the RCMP has earned an international reputation as one of the finest police services in the world. The RCMP has not simply evolved. It has become a model of what a national police service can and should be in the 21st century.
To pursue its public safety and security strategy, the government has increased total budget appropriations to the RCMP from $1.8 billion in 1998-99 to approximately $2.9 billion in the most recent budget.
As I expect my colleagues this evening will say, on our side of the House, we have today a national police organization whose strong strategic focus allows its members to meet the numerous demands we place upon them, demands which range from providing police services to hundreds of communities across Canada to their vital contribution to the fight against international terrorism.
We also want to take note of how the RCMP is addressing these strategic priorities. For example, its success in forging new enforcement partnerships and networks to combat organized crime and reduce the threat of groups adversely affecting our society and economy; the service's innovative approach to meeting the threat of terrorism, supporting an integrated, multi-partner response and a commitment to border integrity and continental security; the force's commitment to international peacekeeping, enhancing global security by sharing intelligence and cooperating with organizations to fight crime whenever and wherever it appears; its work with community partners across Canada to build a relationship with Canada's youth and its efforts to prevent their involvement in crime as victims or perpetrators; and, finally, the important contribution the RCMP makes to policing in first nations, Metis and Inuit communities across Canada.
We have invested in these strategic areas to help the force meet public safety objectives. In the recent budget, we invested another $222 million in marine security which will in part support RCMP operations on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Budget 2000 announced $584 million over three years to the force to strengthen its capacity to address threats to public safety.
Budget 2001 announced $1.6 billion for national security efforts, a significant portion of which has gone to the RCMP for, among other things, expansion of integrated border enforcement teams from 5 to 15 regions; 23 teams in 15 regions across the country.
We have created integrated national security enforcement teams, INSET, in major Canadian cities. Funding has been directed to technology improvements, such as enhancing information systems, real time identifiers, improvements to forensic laboratory services, and counterfeit examination for travel documents.
Finally, we have provided an additional $34 million to expand the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre which play such an important role in the national fight against those who would harm the most vulnerable in our society.
As parliamentarians and Canadians, we are indebted to these four young men who lost their lives serving their country in Mayerthorpe.
Indeed, we owe a debt to all, especially those four young men who lost their lives, but we owe a debt to all who have devoted themselves to the service of Canada as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and to the more than 23,000 members of the force who serve Canada and Canadians today.
We cannot begin to pay that debt in the short time that we have allotted to debate this evening, but I believe we would do well to remind ourselves of the service provided by our national police force. It is our duty to recognize the valued role that men and women of the RCMP play in law enforcement in Canada and around the world.