Madam Speaker, I would like to know what my colleague thinks about the fact that the law and order approach taken by the Conservatives over the past 10 years did not work. I am not the one saying it. That is what we have been hearing from a number of experts.
The number of impaired driving offences increased under the Conservatives, despite the longer sentences the Conservatives put in place in 2008. In 2011, Statistics Canada noted that “[t]he rate of impaired driving increased for the fourth time in five years...and was at its highest point in a decade.”
Why do the Conservatives keep insisting that their measures lowered impaired driving rates even though statistics and scientific studies show that this is not the case?
Something that would work would be holding Canada-wide awareness campaigns and making more investments in this area. That is what CAA is saying as it calls on the government to launch a public awareness and education campaign before marijuana is legalized, for example.
Do the Conservatives not think that it would be better to do that instead of continuing to focus on a law and order approach that did not work, statistically speaking?