Mr. Speaker, rural crime in Alberta is on the rise, and our Alberta Conservative caucus initiated the Alberta rural crime task force.
My colleagues and I held many meetings, round tables, and public forums to hear community concerns. Many constituents expressed gratitude to the RCMP for doing an amazing job. However, the justice system keeps putting career criminals back on street to continue their illegal activities.
While the majority of crimes we see are classic break and entering, we are now seeing more violent rural crimes. There are stories about terrible beatings, holdups at gunpoint, and in some cases, victims are victimized by the same criminal over and over. I heard stories of witness intimidation and the fear of reporting a crime, because people know that criminals will get virtually no jail time and will be back to continue the harassment.
It is time the government takes a strong stance on ensuring career criminals are kept off of our streets.