Immediate release

SENATOR WANTS FUND FOR FAMILIES OF FALLEN OFFICERS

OTTAWA, June 16, 2010 – Senator Bob Runciman (Ontario – Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) is introducing a motion in the Senate calling on the federal government to institute a tuition fund for families of peace officers who lose their lives in the line of duty.

The Senator wants a federal fund that is patterned after the Constable Joe MacDonald Public Safety Officers’ Survivors Scholarship Fund, initiated in Ontario by Runciman when he was Solicitor General of the province.

Constable MacDonald was killed in 1993 when, on routine patrol, he stopped Peter Paul Pennett and Clinton Victor Suzack – who was on parole at the time. MacDonald was beaten and murdered execution style. His killers were subsequently convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Ontario scholarship covers the post-secondary education costs for the spouse and offspring of any Ontario Public Safety Officer who loses his or her life in the line of duty. It was started with $5 million, which has never had to be replenished.

The motion Runciman is introducing in the Senate – he served notice of motion on Wednesday – is intended to create some momentum toward creating a similar fund for federal peace officers. According to the Canadian Police and Peace Officers Memorial website, 46 federal peace officers have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1990. Thirty-six of them are members of the RCMP, but the list also includes three customs officers, three park wardens, three prison guards, and a fisheries and oceans officer.

“This is the least we can do for the families of these brave men and women, families who find their lives shattered, often by a senseless act of violence,” Runciman said. “It’s a small cost to acknowledge the sacrifice of those who put their lives on the line to protect their community.”

For more information, please contact:

Barry Raison

Office of Senator Robert Runciman

(613) 943-4020

raisob@sen.parl.gc.ca