During a federal election forum in Olds, Red Deer-Mountain View riding candidates were split on how to handle crime.
The forum, held Oct. 9 in the TransCanada Theatre, attracted more than 130 people. It featured incumbent Conservative Party candidate Earl Dreeshen, Conner Borle of the Green Party, Paul Mitchell of the People's Party of Canada and Logan Garbanewski of the NDP.
Liberal candidate Gary Tremblay did not attend, telling a reporter he did not because he was working on another Liberal candidate’s campaign in Calgary.
Mitchell said he has written two private member's bills in relation to rural crime.
One would strengthen laws so that private property owners are protected if they use force in self-defence against criminals.
Another would change the Firearms Act handling and storage regulations so property owners can defend themselves if they live in small towns or remote locations and it takes a long time for police to arrive.
"We don't want the law favouring a criminal. We want it favouring a property owner. That's number 1," Mitchell said, sparking applause.
"If you're a legal gun owner, you should be able to use the legal firearms that you already have for self-defence purposes and that's going to be something that will be a real priority for me."
Mitchell said if his party forms government it would scrap the Firearms Act "because it's directed at the two million-plus legal gun owners in this country, not at the criminals." That too sparked applause.
Dreeshen noted he has served as co-chair of the Conservative Caucus Rural Crime Task Force.
He said laws to protect property owners and their property already exist.
"Sometimes, we push things a little bit too far in our rhetoric. We have to understand that we do have rights and we had better make sure that we work with that," Dreeshen said.
"We have to talk with our crown prosecutors. We have issues that are there. We have to make sure that there is funding going into our legal system, because the catch and release approach that has been used for so many years here is great for fish, but it is not great for us as Albertans," he added, sparking applause.
Dreeshen said it can take a long, long time to get private member's bills through Parliament. He pointed out it took about five years for his to make that journey.
Borle said a big problem regarding crime is that the court system is "backed up way too much."
He said a Green Party government would "like to commit money to that to prevent criminals from just going back on the street because our courts can't deal with the cases."
He also said a Green Party government would change the current federal funding formula.
"Right now our federal funding goes 50 per cent federal, 42 (per cent) provincial and only eight per cent municipal. That's not nearly enough money to municipalities to deal with the issues that they're facing," Borle said. "So to deal with rural crime, empower municipalities and fund them for it."
He and Garbanewski said the wise thing to do is solve the root causes of crime, which they said include poverty, a disconnection from society, health issues as well as lack of education and proper housing.
"Building a sense of community safety is not just about the absence of crime. It's about making sure that everyone matters, that we address the root causes of crime and that the justice system treats everyone fairly," Garbanewski said.
"When we focus on increasing social inclusion, promoting public health, ensuring food security, access to education and affordable housing and increasing youth engagement, we not only provide Canadians with important services, we also reduce the risk of crime."
The forum was sponsored by the Olds and District Chamber of Commerce, Didsbury and District Chamber of Commerce, Carstairs Chamber of Commerce, Mountain View Publishing, 96.5 CKFM and Rock 104.5, and the Community Learning Campus.
