The world's first governments arose to keep people safe — so let's do more of that, rural MLA tells colleagues

Rural crime comes up regularly on the flloor of the Alberta legislature. Statistics suggest that signs like this one south of Calgary aren't much of a deterrent. (Reggie Roo/Alamy stock photo)

Countryside crime statistics point to a need for governments to seek guidance from deep within their collective core, the Alberta legislature heard recently from UCP side of the chamber.

Grant Hunter, the member for Taber-Warner in southeastern Alberta, said protecting people and their property is a foundational role of governments everywhere.

"When civilizations first made their collective decisions to forgo a portion of their individualistic tendencies and band together, it was with the intent to add a measure of protection to their families and societies as a whole," Hunter said.

"Today, governments across the globe have expanded their scope and practice. Working together for a common goal has on the whole benefited humanity and has enriched a civilized society," he told the legislature Oct. 31.

"But we should never forget the primary reason why we first formed governments, and that was and still is to protect its people."

Crime is proportionally higher in rural Canada than it is in urban Canada, statistics show.

In 2021, the most recent year that Statistics Canada crime data is available, police with jurisdictions that were mostly rural served 15 per cent of provincial populations. Yet they reported 24 per cent of violent crimes, 18 per cent of property crimes, 30 per cent of Criminal Code traffic offences and 23 per cent of other Criminal Code violations.

The rural-urban gap is also pronounced using another StatsCan measure, the Crime Severity Index (CSI).

The CSI aims to make overall, violent and non-violent crime more widely comparable by meshing seriousness and volume.

The higher the number, the more of a problem crime is, using a baseline of 100 from 2006 data.

The overall CSI number in rural areas was 91.9 in 2021, compared with 69.3 in urban areas.

The violent crime CSI shows an even bigger disparity, widening significantly between 2011 and 2021. The index number for violent crime was 124.1 in rural areas and 85.2 in urban areas in 2021. In 2011, there was virtually no gap — 84.8 rural, 84.9 urban.

So, what's going on?

Hunter has some theories. He singled out federal bail legislation and liberalized drug policies as empowering factors for criminals in Alberta. But he mentioned his own government's focus on recovery for drug addicts as a sound health care approach that could help.

"It is not compassionate nor humane to facilitate or prolong another's drug addiction," he said.

Hunter continued: "I have lived in rural Alberta for most of my life, Mr. Speaker. It is a peaceful and serene life. It's a great place to raise a family, but the criminal element has learned how to operate in rural Alberta, and that is of great concern to me."

His comments come as crime and policing continue to be hot topics in Alberta, with much of the controversy tied to an expansion of the role of the Alberta Sheriffs.

Earlier this year the legislature passed the Public Safety Statutes Amendment Act, 2024, enabling the government to create an independent agency.

The agency would place the police-like functions of the Alberta Sheriffs under the same kind of legislative framework and civilian oversight that exists for other police services, the province's website says.

The opposition NDP says that the province is working to undermine and replace the RCMP, which faces challenges across the country filling positions in the communities it services.

But the UCP says that the legislation is about augmenting and supporting the RCMP, not replacing it.

Hunter, meanwhile, said much remains to be done on the crime-fighting front.

"If we fail to help our people feel safe, to live and work and enjoy their property, then our primary reason for forming governments has been lost. I believe we can and must do better for our people."