FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 December 7, 2004

Liberals Putting Politics Before Safety; Tory MPs

OTTAWA – Today, Conservative MPs Vic Toews and Garry Breitkreuz denounced the Liberal government’s failure to provide sufficient funding for RCMP detachments after the House of Commons Justice Committee heard several mayors from rural Québec giving evidence regarding public safety concerns resulting from the closing of detachments.  Bloc MP Richard Marceau had earlier raised this concern in the form of a motion to the committee.

“Western provinces – such as my home province of Manitoba – have been facing these kinds of cuts for years; now it is the citizens in smaller regions of Quebec whose safety is being neglected,” said Toews.  “Québec representatives are telling us that organized crime and drug trafficking has increased substantially at the same time that their resources from the federal government have diminished,” said Toews.

“It’s incredible that the Bloc and NDP voted with the Liberals to defeat my motion last week to cut $20 million from the ineffective and wasteful long-gun registry,” said Breitkreuz.  “Supporting additional funding for the registry - a program whose costs have escalated to over a billion dollars - is inexcusable particularly given the cutbacks our rural RCMP detachments have suffered in every province in Canada.”

Toews and Breitkreuz observed that by continuing to pour taxpayers’ dollars into the billion-dollar registry instead of into front line policing, the Liberals have put political considerations ahead of the safety and security of Canadians.  “They have failed to live up to their commitment to the Canadian people,” said the MPs.  “The Conservative Party will continue to fight for effective measures to prevent violent crime and to keep our citizens and communities safe.

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For more information, please contact:

Vic Toews, MP for Provencher             Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville

Ottawa: (613) 992-3128                                       Ottawa:  (613) 992-4394