Perhaps the member should table those documents.
The members opposite talk about local issues. We have to be very careful about characterizing what took place in Mayerthorpe as a whole commentary on our criminal justice system.
As I pointed out earlier, crime is on a downward trend and it has been for the last nine or ten years. I know that is hard to accept. Frankly, it is hard for me to accept because I see crime in my own riding. However, those are the facts. The statistics show that crime and violent crime are on a downward trend and have been consistently for the last 10 years.
I would like to put a question to my colleague from Brome—Missisquoi. I have a lot of respect for his tenacity in the face of the closure of C division of the RCMP. However, it must be understood that the role of the RCMP is not to provide social programs. My colleague seems unable to understand that.
In Quebec, the role of the RCMP consists in providing the services of a federal police force in connection with the fight against organized crime and investigations involving national security. In that province, the RCMP does not provide a community police service or intervene on the front line, because these services are provided by the Sûreté du Québec or by the municipal police forces concerned.
I would ask the member to offer and consider that, while he may not see visibly the RCMP in his community, to be the front line police officers in the province of Quebec is not the intended role.