Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the member for Sudbury very publicly how much I appreciate the contribution he makes in this place in his role as a member of Parliament and how good it is to have him as a colleague in northern Ontario, working on behalf all those really wonderful people who call our wonderful part of that province home.
Absolutely, the contribution that the members of the RCMP make in so many unique ways because of the areas they work in, the areas they specialize in, makes a big difference in our communities.
In my own community we have a detachment that, because of the proximity of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, plays a lot of different roles in terms of the traffic that goes back and forth between our two countries and the unlawful activity that might take place. That in fact is dangerous work, because one does not know who is coming across the border, what they are bringing with them and how they might be armed, in order to protect oneself in doing that work.
Therefore, absolutely we need to be doing everything we can in this House, given the very dismal track record of the government, particularly recently in taking away that increase in pay they were expecting to get, to at least protect their pensions and make it possible for those who moved to the RCMP from other policing jurisdictions to actually bring their pensions with them.