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“For a strategy that hasn’t even quite been in place for a year, it’s having an incredibly positive effect,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said in a recent interview.

And yet, she noted, the drop in rural crime has been felt differently in different pockets of Alberta.

“The strategy itself is working, I just think it needs time to make it to every area of the province,” she said.

But Pitt said that’s not what she’s hearing from constituents.

“The RCMP has done a pretty good job of bringing (crime) down recently, and that’s great, but the crime stats are up over the last couple of years,” she said.

“There’s still a lot of fear out there.”

On one thing, Pitt and Ganley agree, almost to a word: Albertans must feel safe in their homes, and they’ll do all they can to make it so.

Self-defence, crime victims highlighted in report

The UCP report also urged a federal review of self-defence laws in the criminal code.

If a homeowner shoots someone on their property, for example, the UCP wants to make sure “appropriate consideration” is given to police response times and whether or not the shooter thought the person was intoxicated.

Also, “in the absence of evidence to the contrary (it) shall be viewed as threatening” if someone doesn’t leave a property when confronted by a homeowner.

The report also recommended a Right to Know the Truth Act, which would require annual public reports detailing provincial crime statistics, establishing a high-risk repeat offenders unit in each judicial district, and looking at a new victims’ ombudsman office.