Issues in Brief
Safe Communities
Whistle Blowing and Financial
Accountability
Safe Communities
Recent police statistics show an 11% increase in property crime and a 21% increase in robberies. Resources need to be devoted to addressing this shift. If we are going to stop criminal behaviour of this magnitude, we are all going to have to learn to be tougher on both crime and its causes. Those who break the law need to know that there will be consequences for such actions, and that they will be swift and consistent.
Youth drug use continues to be a concern as well. There have been reports of drugs being sold on a public sidewalk near a local high school in plain view of several residents. David supports DARE initiatives throughout Edmonton and continues to champion the importance of programs aimed at youth drug prevention. Governments have a role to play in working with communities to develop locally based solutions to these types of problems.
Recently released statistics from the Worker’s Compensation Board indicate that the number of recorded violent acts against Alberta police officers has jumped from just 50 in 2002 to 85 in 2003. The most tragic example of this was the shooting death of RCMP Cpl. Jim Galloway in February. In early April, another police officer narrowly escaped death after being shot at by a suspected car thief. It must be made clear, through words and actions, that it is unacceptable to attack those who are responsible for maintaining our safe communities.
David on Safe Communities
- Pathways to Safer Communities: Rethinking Crime Prevention
- Whither Family Life?
- The International Scope of the Drug Problem
- Effective Crime Prevention in the 1990s
- How Will We Crack the Ice and Smack the Chronic, Sugar and Coke?
- The
Responsibility to Act Against Corruption
Health Care
David remains committed to the Canada Health Act and its key principles: a system that is public, comprehensive, universal, portable and accessible. Canadians and Albertans have stated time and time again that our health care system is one of our best institutions, and we must work within its framework to provide innovative solutions to emerging healthcare problems.
Paul Martin has committed to establishing, with the help of the provinces, a set of maximum wait times for medical procedures in Canada. Already, $2 billion has been delivered in the recent budget to the provinces to help them address their most dire needs. There is no doubt that the Canadian health care system requires reassessment from time to time, but David believes we should continue to look for innovative strategies that will allow us to maintain and enhance the universal, public and accessible care system that Canadians favour.
David on Healthcare
Health Care Funnding: A Canadian Priority (March 11, 2004)
Whistle blowing and Financial Accountability
Public servants at every level must be held accountable for their actions and inactions, especially when it comes to issues of public safety and financial responsibility. David has a long record of speaking out on these issues:
- “Corruption and Cover-up:" In April 2004, David appeared on the CTV news program W-5 to speak out against the treatment of the RCMP and Immigration officers who tried to address serious problems uncovered at the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong.
- Protection for whistleblowers: David is working with public watchdog groups to make sure that the new whistle blowing legislation effectively protects public servants who speak out about corruption and misuse of public funds.
- Global corruption: As Secretary of State, David spoke out about corruption in forums around the world. David is a founding member of the Canadian branch of Parliamentarians for Global Action, a worldwide network of parliamentarians committed to combating corruption.
David on Financial and Public Accountability
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