By Troy Gillard

report criticized

Conservative MPs from Alberta blast Liberals for shrugging off rural crime

May 23, 2019 | 8:01 PM

EDMONTON – A year ago, Shannon Stubbs, Conservative MP for Lakeland, put forward a motion to study the issues of rural crime and the effects it can have on communities.

The motion passed unanimously in the House of Commons.

When the report was made public last week by the mostly-Liberal committee, many Conservative and NDP MPs said it’s not enough.

“It is outrageous that the Liberals do not take the issue of rural crime seriously – even after hearing directly from affected Canadians,” said Stubbs. “My Private Members Motion M-167 is a call to action on rural crime. The final report – which contains zero formal recommendations for action – is an affront to every rural Canadian who lives in fear of being victimized.”

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In Edmonton on Thursday, several of Stubbs’ Conservative colleagues, including Red Deer – Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen and Red Deer – Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins, joined her to voice concerns over the report.

The report, which Conservatives say was issued six months late, is just three pages long and encourages provinces to spend more on emergency-response services and dispatch centres.

“Clearly, the dramatic increase in rural crime is not a priority to the Liberals,” added Stubbs. “After initially supporting this motion, it is unconscionable that the Liberals would dismiss the opportunity to take action on this pressing public safety crisis.”

According to the deputy commissioner for the Alberta RCMP there are approximately 230 unfilled RCMP positions in our province as of April 2017.

Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner MP Glen Motz, who was a police officer for over 30 years, says one of his biggest concerns when it comes to rural crime, is exactly what people should do to defend themselves while waiting for overstretched RCMP officers to arrive.

“You know people don’t know what they can and can’t do. Do you run away and hide? Do you confront and try to protect themselves and your family? What do you do? There needs to be some clarity of language.” He said “There needs to be some clarity of direction for both police and crown on how to address those issues.”

Dreeshen, Calkins and Motz were part of the Conservative Party’s Alberta Rural Crimes Task Force which provided a list of recommendations after hearing from Albertans at numerous town hall meetings across the province.

“There are a lot of people who are concerned and they don’t see the federal government taking this seriously,” Dreeshen said in an interview after Thursday’s media conference in Edmonton.

“I think the critical thing with this … is we have to get (Public safety Minister) Ralph Goodale engaged with this. That’s where a person has to put some pressure on.”

(With file from Hayley Ferguson, CHAT News Today and Shannon Stubbs media release)