PM announces RCMP Cadet training pay to boost recruitment

Thanks very much. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, thank you very much, Stock, for that kind introduction, and I will deflect that credit. You should be aware that you have a Minister of Public Safety who is not just committed to the Government's priorities in the area of criminal justice and law and order, but extremely committed to the RCMP as an institution. Now, Assistant Commissioner Brown gave me a vehicle tour of the facilities today. I can see a lot of work is being done here. A lot of resources are going in here and it would be remiss of me not to give credit to Minister Day for his commitment to the RCMP for getting those resources and making sure this development is happening, not just for Depot but for the long run interest of the great institution that is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So please, give Stockwell Day a big hand.

Of course I'd also like to acknowledge my other colleagues, Andrew Scheer, Member of Parliament for Regina-Qu'Appelle, and of course Tom Lukiwski, Member of Parliament for Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre, which is actually the riding we are in right now. Superintendent Sigursma, as I mentioned, Commissioner Brown, senior officers and officers, thank you all for joining us today, and of course my warmest greetings to our cadets.

So first of all, let me congratulate you cadets on the career choice that you've made. You have signed on for more than a job when you've joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. You have chosen to serve our country. Defending the law is your primary duty of course, but your role in Canadian society is much bigger than that. When you don the uniform of the RCMP, you become the embodiment of our civic values -- peace, order and good government -- the values originally enshrined in our constitution by the fathers of Confederation from the eastern part of the country, from Eastern Canada, and the values employed by the force in the opening and the settlement of Western Canada.

You will keep the peace, maintain order and uphold the laws of our land, and for that all Canadians, myself included, are immensely grateful. So let me start by saying thank you, good luck, Godspeed, as you pursue this noble path. Two years ago I visited Depot and announced that our government was delivering on its commitment to invest in the future of the RCMP. We delivered new funding to enable long-overdue expansion and refurbishment of the National Training Academy, and I'm pleased to see, as I mentioned, that so much work has been since completed. We also announced that we would strengthen the total personnel by 1000 new officers, and we launched an aggressive advertising and recruiting campaign aimed at attracting Canada's best and brightest to the RCMP. Two years later I'm pleased to say that these programs are well underway and the recruiting system is operating more efficiently. The application processing time, for example, will be cut from as much as 300 days to less than a hundred days, to 83 days. But more needs to be done to meet our staffing targets and operational needs. First and foremost, we need to do more to modernize and improve the recruiting system. The RCMP expects to recruit more than 8000 new officers over the next five years, equivalent to nearly half of the total current force strength. Competing for the best people is tough. In Canada's high employment economy, there are a lot of great opportunities for young people, especially here in Western Canada.

Many professions are easier to get into than the RCMP, because the Mounties set the bar very high. Candidates must be physically fit, highly intelligent and of impeccable moral character. Under current rules, they must be willing to undergo six months of training here at Depot without pay. And unlike other police officers in Canada, after they graduate, they are often deployed far away from home, often in some of our most remote communities. While there's no possibility, none, that we will relax the RCMP's rigorous training and recruiting standards, there are other things we can do to improve the recruiting system, and that is what brings me here today.

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to announce that starting this week with the class of cadets before me today, each new recruit will receive an allowance of $500 per week during training. This is competitive with other law enforcement agencies, and it will help cadets meet financial obligations, car payments, mortgages, student loans, that they cannot ignore during their training. Moreover, the RCMP will make a greater effort to accommodate officer deployment preferences and to inform cadets of their likely postings before the end of the application process. These changes will neutralize some of the most difficult impediments to recruiting and make the choice of a career as a Mountie all the more attractive for the legions of smart, fit, dedicated young Canadian men and women who dream of becoming RCMP officers.

The force expects to meet its target of a 1000 officer net increase by 2013. That will mean more police patrolling our streets and communities, more protection for Canadians and their families and better national security for major international events, like the Winter Olympics and the G8 summit in 2010. In other words, it will mean a stronger and safer Canada for everyone. Thank you very much.

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