Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen says the region is being affected by the increasing rates of violent crime across the country.
He says one thing the Conservatives have been calling for is to appoint more judges in the justice system to help improve access to services.
“There is a lot of vacancies across the entire justice system and that leads to a large length of time between a crime being committed and the actual court date for judgement on that. When it comes to the addictions side of things, I know that the provincial government has been working hard to make sure that you can get your addictions treatment even before you’re sentenced for a crime. I think things like that do improve the outcomes.”
Viersen says another move that would help is having more funding for treatment and recovery programs.
“We’ve been saying that addiction is something that people suffer horribly with and it’s something that we have to get people out of. Conservatives don’t believe in handing out free drugs to folks who are addicted to drugs. We think you should get them into treatment so that we can get them to come home. Folks who have family members that are struggling with addiction, they don’t want them to be offered free drugs by the government. They want the government to help get them into recovery programs.”
The federal Conservatives have also been calling for changes to the bail system.
You can listen to the interview with Viersen below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
