Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Lakeland for presenting this bill to the House today, and I am glad to be able to contribute the voices of those in my riding of Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. My riding is one of the largest rural ridings in Canada, and I know first-hand how important it is back home to have strong, enforceable laws that protect the potential victims of crime and the people who are vulnerable to the failings of the justice system.
Before I begin, I will address one concern I have with the language of the motion. When we use phrases like “rural crime”, it is important to be aware that the words we are saying have a history and a meaning behind them, even though we may not intend them that way. As a Dene woman who grew up with and lives with first nations and Métis people, I know that for many across Canada, the phrase “rural crime” does not mean crime in rural Canada. Rather, to many it means crime by indigenous people committed against non-indigenous people. Therefore, motions and debates like this one can be quite scary and isolating to indigenous people, and I would ask that when members of this House consider this bill and talk about it in caucus and with their constituents, they keep in mind the history and meaning of terms like “rural crime”. Even though my colleagues may not intend the language to be perceived in this way, Canada does have a history of injustice toward first nations, Métis, and Inuit people. The language and practice of colonialism is still a reality for far too many people, and we have an obligation to recognize that fact.
That being said, I want to speak about this bill, because I know just how important it is to make improvements to the justice system in rural Canada. My experience as the mayor of La Loche taught me that working with the RCMP, elders, band councils, northern municipalities, and youth is crucial to improving the lives of people in rural Canada, and my experience as an MP has taught me that not all decisions about justice and community development can be decided in the big cities by people who do not know the first thing about the lives and ways of those in small communities. Therefore, today I would like to share some of the experiences I have had, in the hope that they will shed light on this issue for members of the House.
Last week my staff and I had the opportunity to travel to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to attend the New North Northern Justice Symposium. New North represents the 34 municipalities in Saskatchewan's north. This event included elders, youth, RCMP, representatives from the Department of Justice in Saskatchewan, and band councils from across the province. It was an honour to listen to and learn about the programs and initiatives that elders, youth, municipalities, and bands have started to make their communities and reserves peaceful and prosperous.
We had the chance to hear from Angie Merasty and Shawna Bear about their northeast youth violence reduction partnership. Donna Partridge told us about Big Island's soup and bannock initiatives. We also heard from several constables and sergeants in the RCMP about bootlegging, crime reduction, gangs, and other programs, like Crime Stoppers. Each of them shared their knowledge, and I am thankful that they all shared their time with us.
The most important thing I took away from the symposium was how important the relationships between people are. The communities in my riding are small, so small that neighbours become your family, and a lot of the time they already are. Despite how small we feel, our hearts and spirit are big. We look out for one another. We look out for each other when we are in crisis. We celebrate our milestones and successes and mourn our tragedies together, because we know that our communities are stronger when we are all looking out for one another.
This is especially true when it comes to our relationship with local police and the RCMP. It is crucial for local governments and community members to trust their police, but that trust can only be established if the police have enough resources to respond to the needs of the community. That means making sure that the police have the equipment and training to de-escalate situations and respond to emergencies. That means making sure that law enforcement has the time to listen and engage with their communities in meaningfully positive ways.
When police are short on time and compassion, and when they do not understand the generational trauma that people face, it creates a recipe for overly aggressive arrests, and a fear of police and law enforcement. We know that the RCMP are there to look out for us. However, when all we see is violence, or the police's absence, there can be no positive relationship. I know that the RCMP are there to look out for us, and will be there, regardless of how they are perceived.
When I was the mayor of La Loche and made the decision to evacuate our town of 3,000 people, the RCMP volunteered to stay behind to make sure folks got to safety. They could have easily left to look out for their own families. There was no professional obligation to stay. They were some of the last people in La Loche that day, just as they are the last people to give up on us in any crisis. Therefore, I think it is important to keep in mind that it is not due to a lack of will that we discuss crime in rural Canada; rather, we are talking about it because of a lack of support on our side of things, and we should be discussing what steps we can take to live up to our responsibilities in this relationship.
I also do not mean to suggest there is a lack of ideas on what we can do to support our communities, because while the police have their role in responding to crime, our communities also have a responsibility to prevent crime. As I mentioned earlier, just last week I heard many ideas from community organizers and concerned citizens on how we can strengthen our social networks and supports so that crimes do not happen in the first place. Some of the most powerful moments of the week came from the intensely personal stories that were shared. There were stories of trauma, stories of resilience, and stories of survival. There were stories of what could have been, stories of what was lost, and stories of moving on.
Many of my fellow MPs have participated in what is called a “blanket exercise”, which serves as a visual reminder of the systemic oppression and attempted elimination of indigenous people. Stories like these remind us of how indigenous people and northern communities experience and relate to the justice system. These are the stories that we as leaders, the police, and the RCMP must know to better understand rural communities. I am encouraged to see the progress being made in northern Saskatchewan. However, I am alarmed at how much more needs to be done to strengthen the powerful community dynamics that are already in place.
Therefore, when we hear the statistics that are being discussed about crime in rural Canada, they seem to paint an inaccurate picture of imagined chaos and lawlessness in our small towns. That sentiment empowers vigilance in the name of self-defence. These statistics highlight isolation under the guise of abandonment, and they create division when there is so much effort for the sake of unity.
We should not take these feelings for granted and dismiss them as inaccurate, for that is, after all, the lived experience of many people in rural Canada. Our response needs to reconcile that feeling of abandonment with the reality of progress that is being made by our communities. It is our duty to do what we can to bridge that gap between the feelings of our constituents and the efforts of our municipalities, band councils, the police, and the RCMP.
I believe that we can make progress on building that bridge not only by listening to the lived experiences of those who are victimized by crime, but also by giving our time to the forces of justice and to the leaders of our communities who are doing the work on the ground to reduce crime and sustain healthy, peaceful communities. When we as parliamentarians know the issues and understand what life is like in our rural constituencies, only then can we truly advocate on their behalf and know what resources we can provide to help in building these communities.
