Get out of jail free
This week, the Government of Alberta voted on increased funding to slow rising crime rates throughout central Alberta. The funding included in the 2018 provincial was geared toward reducing court backlogs and increasing RCMP resources.
How bad is the crime? It’s pretty bad. Since 2013, the rate of crime across Alberta has remained relatively flat, same for Calgary, but the rate has dropped in Grande Prairie. Unfortunately, the crime rate in Red Deer increased. Between 2013–2015, successive conservative governments had the chance to implement funding that may have reduced crime, but didn’t.
The funding was increased by the new Albertan government elected in 2015. According to a press release from the Alberta NDP, the increase will pay for 59 RCMP officers, 20 new crown prosecutors (ten dedicated to rural Alberta), 40 new RCMP civilian personnel, 4 new provincial court judges, 7.9 million to legal aid, and 13 more bail clerks.
The response to rural crime by the government is the crux of the UCP’s argument. The conservatives have a long standing of being tough on crime as a party and the UCP leader, Jason Kenney, said he would be tough on crime. But the conservatives have yet to prove their claims through their actions. If you’re confused, you should be.
In case you haven’t been following, the UCP and Kenney use rural crime rates and police funding as central arguments against points of Premier Notley. The UCP even created a Rural Crime task force and held town hall meetings to hear from those living in rural Alberta. They called for an emergency debate in the provincial legislature on the state of rural crime in Alberta, too. All pieces of a well engineered attack on Notley’s records
“As I travelled across the province over the last 18 months, the overwhelming message I received from rural Albertans was that they are fed up with NDP inaction to address the escalating crime rates in their communities”.
— Jason Kenney
The UCP will hear cries about petty theft, they will hear grief over lost loved ones, but they refuse to support funding when it comes to investing in the Justice system out of purely ideological opposition to a solution to rural crime. While families are sitting at home in rural Alberta talking about the petty theft in her neighbourhood and their fears about violent offenders being able to walk out of jail, at the same time, the very party that called for enhanced protection and policing, is using their fear as a political show.
On Thursday, April 19, 2018, elected officials voted on main estimates, in other words, the estimated amount each ministry requires as part of the budget. During the vote for the budget for the Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General, the ministry that pays for policing, courts, and crime prevention, the opposition stood unanimously against approving that budget.
When the concerned citizens are asking their conservative MLAs to help, Jason Kenney and his band of United Conservative Party members unanimously voted against the government’s proposal to provide additional funding that would address an onslaught of crime affecting rural Albertans.
¹ ”UCP Leader Jason Kenney Wants To Get Tough On Rural Crime ….” https://okotoksonline.com/local/ucp-leader-jason-kenney-wants-to-get-tough-on-rural-crime.
² ”Jason Kenney’s UCP again votes against Justice budget and new ….” 19 Apr. 2018, https://albertandpcaucus.ca/news-events/post/jason-kenney-s-ucp-again-votes-against-justice-budget-and-new-resources-to-fight-rural-crime.
³ United Conservative Party Caucus. https://www.ucpcaucus.ca/united-conservatives-announce-task-force-on-rural-crime/
⁴ Alberta. Legislative Assembly. Official record of debate (Hansard), April 19, 2018 at 606. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/ISYS/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_29/session_4/20180419_1330_01_han.pdf
