GETTING THINGS DONE: TACKLING CRIME

October 12, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced Canada’s New Government will introduce legislation to provide tougher sentences and more effective management of individuals convicted of sexual or violent offences in Canada.

When approved by Parliament, the new law will:

• Make it easier for Crown Prosecutors to obtain a Dangerous Offender designation against individuals convicted for a third violent or sexual offence;
• Create stricter Peace Bond provisions for high risk offenders by extending the maximum duration of Peace Bonds (which can restrict contact with other persons, firearm possession etc.) from 12 to 24 months; and
• Put tighter restrictions on the behaviour of high risk offenders once they are finally released.

The Prime Minister also said Canada’s New Government will make investments in the National Flagging System, which tracks potentially dangerous offenders through inter-agency collaboration and pre-sentence reports.

Strengthening the National Flagging System will strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to track high risk individuals.

And it will ensure that they receive appropriate sentences should they re-offend.

These changes will help to keep dangerous serial-offenders in jail and keep high risk offenders on a tighter leash when finally released.

Today’s announcement is the latest move by Canada’s New Government to tackle crime. New laws have been introduced to:

• Ban house arrest for violent criminals;
• Bring in mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes;
• Crack down on street racing; and
• Raise the age of protection from 14 to 16.

Under previous Liberal governments, drug, gun, and gang crime all increased:

• Violent crime is 35% higher than it was 20 years ago (Statistics Canada, 2004);
• The overall drug-related crime rate has been on an upward trend since 1993, with the cannabis offence rate rising 80% from 1992-2002 (Statistics Canada, 2004); and
• In 2005, the homicide rate rose 4%, to its highest level in nearly a decade (Statistics Canada, 2006)

After years of Liberal inaction on crime, Canada’s New Government is getting things done to protect the Canadian way of life.