QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
December 11, 2024
Leader, according to a CBC report, a government source has revealed that Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government is considering spending $1 billion to protect the Canada-U.S. border. In 2014, the RCMP had approximately 21,000 officers. Ten years later, in 2024, the RCMP still has roughly 21,000 officers, despite an 18% increase in our population. Short of resources, RCMP officers have become firefighters, putting out the fires set by this government.
How do you justify such a lack of resources and investment over the past nine years?
Thank you for your question.
Honourable senator, after hearing your question, I can’t believe that you do not support the additional investments that will be made to better protect our border, which is already garnering attention from our neighbours to the south.
That being said, this subject has been discussed several times in this chamber. Our police forces are under pressure. They are experiencing problems and dealing with recruitment issues. The government is continuing to invest to ensure that we have the resources we need to protect ourselves, not only at the border, but across Canada.
Leader, am I to understand that Canadians should thank President Trump for getting the Liberal government to wake up and try to repair its broken borders?
The answer is no. Despite the false information that is being shared by the leaders of political parties here in Canada, our border is not a sieve. It is well protected. We can always do better. That is what the government is doing and will continue to do.
