A town hall meeting in Dauphin recently took place to discuss the rising crime rates in the area, and the possibilities of bail reform.
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier, accompanied by Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo, hosted this event to have some open communication with the community.
Caputo was invited to this event by Mazier, as his background as a former crown attorney allowed him to detail the changes and bills moving through parliament around bail.
The bail issues focus on a problem with "prolific offenders", who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, compared to other offenders. The reform looks to change the policies around bail to make repeat offenders have a harder time getting a bail plea. This in turn would free up more resources that would otherwise go to such offenders that would serve their sentence in the community.
The next topic, which also dominated the Q&A session was the ever-rising numbers of rural crime. Mazier noted that these trends in smaller towns are something that may have been seen before elsewhere.
"We're seeing some really startling stats, especially of rural Canada that crime rates are up 32% but even more concerning is the whole issue of what we used to see in Toronto, what we used to see in Winnipeg, that crime is coming to Dauphin, to Swan River, to Neepawa."
Overall, the meeting left off with the strong message that the only way to deal with the crime in our community, is together as a community.
The town hall meeting wrapped up shortly after 8:30 pm.
If you were unable to make it out to the town hall and you still want your voice to be heard, you can email MP Dan Mazier at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or reach his Dauphin office by calling 1-877-405-8946.
