DRUGS ARE THE ISSUE; WHILE GUNS GET THE ATTENTION, IT'S NOT THE
CONCERN IN THE PEACE

While the national parties are drum beating about gun violence as the
biggest crime threat to Canada, it's drugs that are the worry in the
Peace region.

Drugs have led to major social problems in Grande Prairie's downtown
core, and the local courthouse sees a veritable revolving door of
drug-related charges.

Federal politicians need to do more to help communities rid
themselves of the drug problem, says Independent candidate Bill Given.

Not only are more police needed but more resources need to be
directed to social strategies.

"As a federal politician, I would try to work to see that
municipalities that pay for policing get more money for crime
prevention strategies," he says.

Given, an alderman with the City of Grande Prairie, notes it was a
federal program that helped the city hire its own crime prevention facilitator.

Governments need to get tough on crime to bring the rates down, said
Conservative candidate Chris Warkentin.

"We (the Conservative Party) are proposing that any crime that
involves guns or violence of a severe nature or drugs, or some type
of sex offence should have some sort of minimum mandatory sentence as
a punishment for these types of crimes."

Warkentin agreed many crimes in this region are being fuelled by
drugs and said stiffer punishments would help prevent those type of crimes.

"I certainly think it would be a deterrent, but obviously there need
to be other measures that need to be put in place as well. One of the
things we're proposing is that we have more front-line police
members. We need police on the ground so they can enforce the laws
and certainly protect citizens that are not involved in these types of things."

It's not just about tougher sentences, argues NDP candidate Susan
Thompson. There has to be poverty reduction and programs aimed at
preventing youths from ever getting involved in drugs in the first
place. Governments also need to focus heavily on the problem of
crystal meth, she said, not only because it is the drug of choice at
the moment but also because of its tendency to cause violent behaviour.

"We have to have more rehabilitation programs in place for young
people who do get hooked on this stuff to help them get off of it
because it is a very damaging drug."

Thompson said the NDP wants to crack down on crystal meth producers,
make it tougher to access the ingredients, and make it an offence to
possess those ingredients if it could be shown they were to be used
to make drugs.

Warkentin also said the Conservatives would introduce a plan to limit
access to meth ingredients.

At the heart of taking drugs out of the community, Given pointed to
his aldermanic experience and setting up a crime prevention program
in the city that focused on bringing the community together.

"Essentially the root causes of crime are people who are not involved
in society and so we need to find ways to bring them in -
particularly youth - and get them involved so they have opportunities
to explore options in life."

Liberal candidate Tanya Kappo and Green Party candidate Zane Lewis
did not return calls for this story.