Justice committee  I would just make one other quick point, because of the back and forth, the issues, and one of the comments that was made. I would urge the members of the government on both sides of the House to encourage changes to existing regulations that are easy and fast to do, because we know how long it takes for legislation.

Justice committee  It was for integrated policing.

Justice committee  If I may, I'll deflect this down the table to Mr. Garis. I know that a lot of the documentation and the calculations are in the material that will be provided to you. Len, did you want to speak to that?

Justice committee  My sense is that you are on the right track. I think when you do get specific about specific offences--the severity of those and the penalties that reflect that--it is absolutely the right direction.

Justice committee  It has been a subject around all of the tables, and we recognize that. What we have to do is define the different levels of policing and what value they bring federally, provincially, regionally, and then locally. What is local policing and what does it require? What is the difference between integration and regionalization?

Justice committee  I want to add a couple of points. Number one, the reality is that municipalities only collect eight cents out of every tax dollar in this country.

Justice committee  I know it is, but policing budgets are the single largest item in all municipal budgets. The other thing that's happened is that the shift from the federal government to the municipalities and from the province to the municipalities, as we're paying for more integrated services and all of those things, reduces our ability to put police officers on the street as community policing operations.

Justice committee  Right now in this province we have integrated services, which we believe in. That integrated model includes IHIT, the integrated homicide investigation team, ERT, the emergency response teams, and so on. We also pay our share; there's a formula that's used to pay for those. We've made an argument, as municipalities, whether they're RCMP or municipal, that if the burden of the integrated forces were paid for by the province and the federal government, allowing us to put all of our resources on the street with community policing, then we would be better able to serve them.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I'm pleased to be here with my colleagues. I have the support of Len Garis, and Superintendent Armstrong from the RCMP is on her way. She's caught in traffic, but she will be here shortly. You will have copies of these notes in the background paper, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on some of the facts.

Transport committee  The City of Langley would agree with that.

Transport committee  I would simply echo what has just been said. As I said, we're not affected by marshalling yards. I think the solution has to have the kind of teeth in it to ensure that the levels being either suggested or built in can be enforced.

Transport committee  Yes. We are, indeed, with the current overpass that we're building, plus the one that is proposed. Needless to say, with grade separation there is no need for whistling, so that will provide some significant relief for our citizens who are fairly close to the rail lines.

Transport committee  Our experience would echo those comments. We have been disappointed in the length of time it has taken to get the railways to the table to discuss local issues that need focus and priority. Each of the railways has been a little bit different. Irrespective of where this goes, we want every one of them to respond in a manner that is sensitive to the local needs of each community.

Transport committee  Relative to some of those issues, we support what New Westminster is saying, because they're really faced with the issues of shunting and movement of a lot more cars within their rail yards. Our issues are pass-through trains, the volume of trains and, with whistles, definitely the noise level they create and how that might disturb the citizens.

Transport committee  Thank you very much. It's a distinct pleasure to be able to speak to the committee today. I am the mayor of the city of Langley, and I represent the perspective of this community as it relates to rail issues. I think the most important thing for the committee to know is that we fully recognize the challenges that a growing rail network poses right across the country.