Communities Still Waiting for 2500 new Municipal Police Officers

OTTAWA-The Conservatives have failed to deliver the promised 2500 new municipal police officers after more than two years in office, Member of Parliament Sukh Dhaliwal charged today during Question Period in the House of Commons.

“Mr. Speaker, the government made a commitment in its platform to fund an additional 2,500 municipal police officers across the country.  It has been two years since that announcement was made, but still nothing.  Where is the money the Conservatives promised for an additional 2,500 municipal police officers to make our communities safer to live in?” Dhaliwal asked.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day replied that the government “[has] had great discussions with federal-provincial authorities on how that is going to work and the money is in the budget.” 

His answer did not satisfy Dhaliwal.

“This government talks a good game, but they do not have the results to back it up.  After two years we still do not have these police on our streets and our communities are suffering for it.  In BC, gang-related attempted murders, assaults and shootings are all up sharply.  BC’s homicide rate of 2.57 per 100,000 residents is well above the national average of 1.88.  We need more police to fight these serious crimes,” Dhaliwal said.

Dhaliwal and the Liberal Party are as committed to public security as they are to individual rights. They have fought hard for the independence of our judiciary, civilian oversight of the RCMP, and against the politicization of RCMP. Going forward, a Liberal Government will commit $200 million to hire new RCMP officers and commit to additional federal support for recruitment of more community police, public prosecutors and judges.

Sukh Dhaliwal is the Member of Parliament for  Newton - North Delta and the Opposition Critic for Competitiveness and the New Economy.

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