Mr. Speaker, throughout my nearly four decades of policing, I was always inspired by the fact that one of Canada's most enduring national symbols was a police officer on a horse, a Mountie, a member of the RCMP.
The RCMP's motto is “Maintiens le Droit”, which means maintain the right and uphold the law. The RCMP is perhaps the most trusted institution in our country, and it is a source of national pride.
The basis of that trust is the fact that Canada is a rule-of-law country, a country where the police are independent from all political interference in their operations, investigations and prosecutions. In Canada, the police are not subject to the dictates of some feckless politician who would seek to compel the police to lock up his opponents without evidence or legal basis.
That is why Canadians were so shocked to hear the Leader of the Opposition so casually call the RCMP “despicable” for maintaining the right and upholding the law. I now know he denies saying what we all heard him say, but I would ask every member of the House to reflect on the impact that such scurrilous remarks can have.