Mr. Speaker, the process of examining the RCMP’s request for an increase in salary is underway. Our government is certainly aware of the need to ensure that members of our unique national police force receive fair compensation. I say unique because the RCMP is the only police force in the world that functions as a national, provincial, and municipal policing body. In fact, RCMP members also serve with distinction in over 600 indigenous communities and at three international airports.
From its beginnings as the Northwest Mounted Police in the latter half of the 19th century to its establishment as a truly national police force in 1920, the RCMP that we know today, which is involved in operations dealing with everything from organized crime to terrorism to economic crime to the protection of dignitaries to the protection of communities across Canada, has emerged as an institution fundamental to this country.
I agree with the member for Elmwood—Transcona that the question of fair compensation for RCMP members—