SECU Committee Report

NDP supplementary report to the SECU committee tabled by MP Christine Moore on Motion M-167

The New Democratic Party believes that this report is incomplete because it does not take into account all the rural issues highlighted by the testimonies.

We want to propose certain concrete measures to adequately respond to the specificities of rural Canada and stop crime.  

We think that the federal government should play an active role and help the provinces and territories to ensure security in rural areas.

We recommend that the current report address the following measures:

1- Rural specifics related to the RCMP

1.1. Rural situation

The first RCMP assignments disseminate new recruits to rural areas across Canada.

Although the committee has been informed of a transition period and training to familiarize recruits with their new environment, it is clear that they have an incomplete understanding of the territory and the specifics of the regions where they are posted.

Assistant commissioner Byron Boucher stated that rural assignments were filled by young recruits and only for short periods of time. In addition, RCMP recruits receive no specific training to prepare for life in rural areas or for remoteness and isolation. New recruits should not be assigned to rural areas unless they are familiar with the environment. The federal government cannot only “encourage provinces and territories to increase investments” but should also collaborate with provinces and territories and help ensure the safety of rural Canadians.

1.2. Indigenous situation

The current report does not address the situation of Indigenous people in the police force. MP Georgina Jolibois, suggested revising the RCMP requirements and adapting them culturally to support the recruitment of natives. According to her testimony, the indigenous application process for the RCMP is too long and tedious.

2- Peacekeeping program in remote communities

The positive experience of Pelican Narrows community succeeded in implementing a peacekeeping program. Through this program, trained individuals who are not police officers, oversee surveillance activities and can respond to emergencies. These agents, follow a six-week community-funded training program and make their community safer.

3- Awareness raising and suicide prevention in rural areas

In rural areas, the majority of those killed by firearms are suicides and almost exclusively men. Due to the focus on crime instead of mental health in the discussions surrounding gun control, we struggled to reduce the death by guns and prevent them. In Canada, 80% of firearm deaths are suicides.

We know that plans and strategies can save lives: in Québec the strategy to prevent suicide has radically reduce the number of suicides in the province. To better understand suicide in rural areas, we want to add concrete measures related to suicide prevention.

Motion M-174 of new-democrat MP Charlie Angus asks for the formation of a national action plan to prevent suicide. Canada is the only G7 country that does not have such a plan, which is why motion M-174 asks the federal government to define national strategies for suicide prevention, to invest in adequate programs for indigenous communities and to distribute information through the creation of a national online platform.

4- Support for victims

The current report does not sufficiently address the situation of women victims of sexual or marital violence in rural and remote areas.

Mrs. Christina Johnson mentioned the silence that surrounds sexual violence against women. Because of the closeness of individual in rural areas, they fear being confronted by family members or friends of their abuser in the reporting process of that abuse.

In addition, they face a lack of resources and a “culture of acceptance and normalization”.

Christina Johnson also deplored the lack of individuals supporting victims of sexual violence, specifically the lack of women rights defenders and the lack of individuals trained to work with trauma.

5- Access to 911 service

The government should play a role in collaboration with provincial and territorial partners to ensure universal access to 911 emergency service everywhere in Canada in the two official languages.

We believe that these additional remarks complete the current report to better understand the problems of crime and violence in rural and remote areas. The testimonies showed the necessity to act and implement concrete measures at all levels of government, especially at the federal level.