Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the hon. member for his thoughtful speech. It bore some echoes to a couple of town halls that I held in my riding in the last few months. What are called the Danzig shootings happened in my riding and I had a couple of town halls. I canvassed the area three times and started to get a feel for the concerns of the constituents.
First, they bitterly resented outsiders coming in and their community being labelled a crime community.
The second thing they mentioned speaks to the issue that the hon. member raised, namely jobs and opportunities. There is a lot of regrettable unemployment in this particular area with people who have time on their hands.
The third thing they said was that they wanted a police relationship, not just a police presence, and therein lies a huge difference.
The fourth thing they said was that they did not need any more laws, but they did need evidence. The police and the community agreed that the laws were fine. What they needed was the evidence to prosecute fully, within the meaning of that phrase, under the Criminal Code.
Without my having had any direct conversation with him, his speech eerily relates to and reflects what I heard at community hall meetings this summer.