Mr. Chair, the member is absolutely right that the RCMP officers are not resourced properly. Why is that? We have a government that has neglected our criminal justice system and law enforcement in this country for a decade or more.
I will mention that the one group of individuals that the weak law enforcement in rural areas and particularly in my riding is not lost on is the criminals. We are seeing many grow ops and a massive drug problem with marijuana. We are seeing a tremendous problem with methamphetamine.
If members do not think that this country had better take note of what is actually happening with crystal methamphetamine, then they do not understand exactly what is happening, particularly in the rural areas. Out of sight, out of mind is the idea behind a lot of criminals. They understand they can get away with a tremendous amount when the law enforcement officers are stretched to the max and cannot do the job that needs to be done. We need to push back against this criminal element that is coming at us with a vengeance.
I have been a member of Parliament since 2000 and drug use has increased unbelievably. It is not because of a lack of political will in my riding. Communities have joined arms. Social services, RCMP, the educational system and the health care system have joined together. We need to hire more police. Actually we need to hire more communications people and get into the schools.
We are still losing the battle on the crystal methamphetamine problem. There is a serious problem not only with crystal meth, but when these people get into court, the courts turn them back into the community. That has to stop if we are to save this country from what will be a tremendously serious problem in the future.