Ottawa Journal for the Week of July 06 – July 10, 2021

When it comes to tackling crime in Canada, our Government has been clear: we stand for the safety and security of law-abiding Canadians. In the last session of Parliament, we moved forward on a number of new laws to keep Canadian families safer and more secure.

Earlier this year, news reports of gang violence in places like Vancouver and Toronto became alarmingly regular. In an effort to crack down on increasing gang violence, we introduced new legislation to fight gangs and organized crime. This includes making gang-related murders first-degree offences so that those found guilty would face 25 years before being eligible for parole. We are also introducing mandatory jail time for criminals who recklessly endanger innocent people through drive-by shootings.

Organized crime is often financed by drugs and car theft, so we are cracking down on criminals who steal cars, tamper with car information, or try to profit from stolen vehicles.

When it comes to fighting drug crime, part of the Federal Government’s National Drug Strategy is to make sure that kids understand the dangers of illegal drugs. Now, we are combining education of our children with real jail time for dealers who sell to kids or haunt places where children are likely to be found, such as schoolyards and playgrounds.

Sexual predators are also a danger to innocent children and families. Building on our previous action of raising the legal age of consent from 14 to 16, we are making it mandatory to register convicted sex offenders on the national database. We are also making it mandatory for sexual offenders to give their DNA to the National DNA Data Bank. These are actions that will help police to prevent crimes and better protect families before the damage to the innocent is done.

There are many laws in Canada which clearly favour criminals over victims and must be changed. In 13 long years of inaction on crime, too many criminals got off too easy.

Criminals who commit serious crimes should have to do serious time. Following through on our 2008 election promise, we are making changes to the way criminals serve their sentences. Criminals convicted of first and second-degree murder will face a tougher ride when they try to get parole after serving only a portion of their sentence. We are also cracking down on criminals who are permitted to serve their sentences from the comfort of their living rooms, especially for serious crime like human trafficking and arson.

In addition, many criminals, including a recent case of a pedophile, have been getting extra credit for the time they serve behind bars before their sentencing. Sometimes, it was going as far as 2-for-1, or even, 3-for-1 credit. This is why we also took action to make sure criminals served their full sentences and didn’t get extra credit for time served. The passage of this legislation means that criminals will no longer be able to play the system.

By moving forward on these laws, we will continue to stand up for law-abiding Canadian families, for safer streets, and for better justice for all Canadians.