Combating rural crime with innovative strategies to keep residents safe

Alberta Justice Minister and Solicitor General Doug Schweitzer stopped in Whitecourt on Thursday, September 12 as part of his nearly four-week long tour of rural Albertan communities. The UCP government campaigned on implementing a 16-point plan to crack down on rural crime, and his tour is a big part of getting that plan running. In a July 2018 Statistics Canada survey relating to rural crime in the Prairie provinces, Alberta saw a 38 per cent higher rate of rural crime when compared to rates in urban centres.

The small crowd that attended the evening visit at the Forest Interpretive Centre was heavy with area politicians. Along with representatives from both Whitecourt and Woodlands County, Edson’s mayor and several Edson councillors were in attendance as were council members and a few residents from Yellowhead County. Things began with an introduction by area MLA of West-Yellowhead Martin Long followed by an introductory speech by Minister Schweitzer and ending with an open question period.

One resident in attendance asked what will be done to help those who are hurt by rural crime and how things can be changed so residents can protect themselves and their properties. Minister Schweitzer said he understood the frustration felt by many in terms of how a resident could be charged for defending his or her property. “We are advocating hard right now for changes to our criminal code to reflect the reality of rural Alberta better. We feel as though people are being targeted and seen as vulnerable by criminals so we are doing what we can to make sure we get change in Ottawa.” 

Minister Schweitzer said a change in the federal government would help. “We are advocating for a Conservative government at the national level because we think that change is necessary not only for our economy but for changes to the criminal code. We need to implement the laws of Canada as they stand right now; that is our role so sometimes our hands are tied from a deterrence effect. People are looking for stiffer sentences but some of that is out of our control, so we are looking for other innovative solutions to make sure Albertans feel safe.”

He said that organizations such as the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) and community-based watch groups such as rural crime watch that work hand in hand with local law enforcement would be a big help in community safety. “Volunteers across this province are stepping up to help. We’re hoping we can use this position as Minister of Justice and Solicitor General to help enable them, help bring them together, and help them develop best practices so they can work with the police.” He encourages residents to get involved in their communities and to play an active role in helping to break the crime cycle.

“Once we start implementing our platform commitments like providing more treatment beds across Alberta and building out our policy around drug treatment courts, we’re going to need their input and their entrepreneurial Alberta nature to get involved in their communities and help us implement these strategies because it’s going to fall to local communities to make sure they are safe. We will do what we can to make sure that our police, prosecutors, and judicial system have the resources they need, but a lot of it is going to fall to the local communities to make sure they can implement these platforms and keep themselves safe.”

 In his travels, Minister Schweitzer said he had heard a lot of constructive feedback. “The biggest thing we are doing in this tour is that we are going out and listening to the local community leaders about what they see in their communities and what they are looking for as a response from us as their government.” He said he wants to reassure communities of the clear direction that he and the other members of the provincial government have been given by Premier Kenney.

“We are going to implement our campaign commitments to Albertans, and that includes our rural crime strategy. From hiring 50 new prosecutors to making sure we have funding to combat organized crime through ALERT to making sure that we provide funding for drug treatment courts to deal with addictions, building on the premier’s announcement last week of providing further treatment beds. We are looking at lots of innovative ways to make sure our justice system works for Albertans.”

He assured those in attendance that the government is working as quickly as possible. “Change is coming.” One example of change that he touched on concerns the recent protest at a Southern Alberta turkey farm where protestors trespassed onto a property, broke into a turkey barn, and proceeded to sit in the barn to protest the apparent mistreatment of the birds. “That issue is a lightning rod across our province right now, and we’ve heard it in almost every community we’ve been to. We are working with our Minister of Agriculture to come up with a response because we do not want to send the signal that Alberta is an easy target for people who want to protest in this way. We are going to be sending a clear signal that this type of behaviour is not tolerated in Alberta.”