I’ve spent my whole life around jobsites and working people. I’ve never met someone who doesn’t want to be proud of the work they do. But when my worksite gets robbed, I feel sorry for the cop who gets sent to collect my report.

I had the crook on video. I had footage of him breaking into my trailer and stealing my tools. It wasn’t the first time it happened, and it wasn’t the last. When a constable arrived to take my report, I told him I had everything he needed to get the guy. You know what he told me? That he was there to collect a report so I could make an insurance claim. He told me that if anybody I knew was thinking of joining the Ottawa Police, I should warn them they won’t be catching bad guys. They’ll be writing up reports for insurance claims.

I went on a ride along with the OPS in the ByWard market. The first thing we saw was a dealer on a street corner right across the street from where he’d been busted the day before. It was a sting operation, they collected evidence, and the nabbed him dealing hard drugs to people who need help getting clean. The officer couldn’t do a thing about it, because we just don’t give them the resources they need.

We don’t need another report to tell us what we already know, but here’s a stat for you. The crime severity in Ottawa is going up, while in places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and London, it’s going down.

I’m a family man. I want my kids to grow up in a city where people look out for each other. Where public spaces feel safe. When my teenage daughter asks to go downtown with her friends, I want to be able to say yes.

I’m not interested in being tough on crime for the sake of headlines, but I’m not going to pretend nothing in wrong.