Public Safety committee  Absolutely. This will be the third time I've presented to ministers, and they've been tremendously supportive. This is a pretty interesting issue on which ministers and yourselves are, frankly, getting ahead of an important public policy challenge. I think that shows a lot of lea

Public Safety committee  I'd refer to what's happening in British Columbia. They have taken a pretty careful look at their justice system. There have been a number of reports, including those of Mr. Cowper, and the government has developed an action plan on that basis. One of the things they are looking

Public Safety committee  I think, as you heard from Professor Curt Griffiths from Simon Fraser University, who's actually on our steering committee and a very prominent academic in the field of policing in Canada, we are well behind all of the G-8 countries in terms of our research capacity, the infrastr

Public Safety committee  I think you've raised an issue that's pretty complex in many respects. It gets at the issues of technology, of how you're deploying your police officers, of tiered policing, and the use of civilians to provide support to police. I know a number of jurisdictions have looked at m

Public Safety committee  First, with the utmost respect, I would have to say that it's not the role of the federal government to comment on the operations of particular police services in this country, including the RCMP. That is a clear delineation in law and there are good reasons for it. So I'm reluct

Public Safety committee  I think one of the benefits of this issue of the economics of policing is that it has started a public debate. Police services, police boards, and their residents are talking about what it is the police do and how they do it, and about issues such as cost recovery. In Ottawa, f

Public Safety committee  When the Canadian Police Association came here, they talked about a number of concerns in that regard. They talked in particular about disclosure and the disclosure of all documents, evidence, and information to the judiciary in moving forward with a case. They highlighted the in

Public Safety committee  I think it's a fair question. What we've tried to stress, and if I had more time I'd elaborate, is that the strategy is for all policing—first nations, provincial, municipal, and RCMP. As to the jurisdictional split, I think as you well know, the Minister of Public Safety has a m

Public Safety committee  I think in terms of information sharing there's a considerable gap in Canada. When you look at what exists in the U.K., in the United States, in Australia, and in New Zealand, in terms of their capacity through databases, through research forums, and through learning events to sh

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I think there are a couple of dimensions. We've been following your deliberations very closely. It's been very helpful for us to hear what you've had to say, what the witnesses have had to say, and the sorts of questions that have been raised. We've taken careful note

Public Safety committee  Thank you for that question. You've touched on a number of important elements, and I'll just cover a few of them, if I may. With regard to the issue of police officers' salaries, I'm well aware that's extremely sensitive. I think it's definitely not the role of the federal gover

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning, everyone. It's great to be back here again. This is an important topic. It has been tremendously helpful that this committee has been engaged in this and has been calling the witnesses that it has to discuss this issue. We very much

Public Safety committee  We could provide the StatsCan information to you. It's not something we develop ourselves.

Public Safety committee  There are considerable expectations that have been raised around this issue, and that's great. It has created a certain momentum. But realistically speaking, most change, if it is to be sustainable, tends to be incremental. I wouldn't want to create the expectation that there's

Public Safety committee  I'm afraid it's not a simple answer. The nature of change in this sector, as with many others, is happening at multiple levels. There are things where, whether it's the federal government, the provincial governments, or even the local government...they can be directive. They can