Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest and I would like to comment on the tough on crime statement that crime goes up. It does not seem to make sense to me. I would seriously question the statistic. In some cases, at least for petty crimes, the rate goes down because when nothing is done about it, people stop reporting it.
I had an individual in my riding, before my riding boundaries changed in 2004, whose store kept getting robbed. Guys, usually young people, would break in at night. They would break down the door, take some stuff and leave. They would leave the door open so that especially in winter it was really not a good thing. He would report it and by the time the police arrived, the damage was done and when they did find the offenders, they got a little slap on the wrist and kept doing it again.
From the victim's point of view the crime rate went down because when he reported these robberies, his insurance company kept increasing his premiums due to the fact that he was a higher risk. He received the punishment and the other guys went free. He said it only made sense to him that he would not report it any more and so he did not.
The incredible part of the story is that one night he was suspicious that they had not hit for a while and maybe that was going to be the night, so he decided to spend the night in his store. Sure enough, they broke in the door. He caught them and held them for the police. The kids got home before he did because he was left to clean up the broken door before he could go home. The police just took the kids home and that was it.
I would like the member to respond to the fact that we need to have accurate statistics based on fact, not just on what is reported.