Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity tonight to voice my opposition to the proposal to close down the RCMP training depot in Regina, Saskatchewan, as was recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report.

Thousands of Canadians die every year from medical malpractice, but when someone dies because the doctor in the emergency room made an incorrect split-second decision, we do not shut down the medical school where the doctor studied 20 years ago. Why would we do that with a police academy?

That is the analogy an RCMP trainer made when I visited and toured Depot last month. One could say that it does not make sense to throw the baby out with the bathwater or reinvent the wheel. Whatever expression we choose, the conclusion remains the same: The RCMP training depot in Regina, Saskatchewan, is a world-class police training facility and should not be made a scapegoat for the events that transpired in Nova Scotia three years ago.

To be clear, the Mass Casualty Commission has done a lot of good work and made some very reasonable recommendations. It makes sense that people should not be able to buy an RCMP cruiser at auction, that people should not be able to buy an RCMP officer’s uniform on eBay and that a public alert system should be activated whenever there is an active shooter situation in progress.

Last month, I was pleased to see that the Public Safety Minister had appointed a chair of the committee responsible for implementing the recommendations of the Mass Casualty Commission. However, when asked by reporters about Depot, I was concerned when the Public Safety Minister answered that he was keeping an open mind about which recommendations would and would not be implemented. I had hoped that the minister would use that opportunity to clarify that the RCMP training depot in Regina would not be shut down. Regrettably, he did not do so.

What I disagree with very strongly is the idea that the physical location of Depot in Regina, Saskatchewan, is somehow a problem that needs to be corrected. When I visited Depot last month, I had the opportunity to visit with the management, the staff and the cadets. Despite my best efforts, I could not find a single person who was ever consulted by the Mass Casualty Commission about cadet training. That is why the recommendation to close Depot came as such a shock to everyone.

If there are improvements that need to be made to the training of RCMP cadets, those improvements can and should be made at the existing location in Regina. It is not just me who is saying that; this same position has been articulated by the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle and the member for Regina—Lewvan. Similar statements have been made by the mayor of Regina, Sandra Masters; the premier of Saskatchewan, Scott Moe; and Saskatchewan’s NDP official opposition leader, Carla Beck.

The Regina community is united in wanting to keep this 150-year-old institution at its current location. I ask the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Safety or the parliamentary secretary to put people’s minds at ease and commit to not shutting down the RCMP training depot in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Michael Kram

$500,007.00