Georgina · East Gwillimbury · King  .
 
Bradford West Gwillimbury · Innisfil  .

As Canada’s Public Safety Minister, I have responsibility for law enforcement as well as Canada’s National Crime Prevention Strategy.

In recent weeks, I have met with police who fight crime on the front lines, with community leaders trying to make their neighbourhoods safe and with the family members of innocent victims who have lost their lives to violent criminals.  All expressed a desire to see real action to combat gang and gun crime.

When first elected to Government we made protecting communities from violence and crime one of our key priorities.  While previous Governments have not seen it this way, we believe it is critical to act swiftly and ensure our message is clear.  We will not tolerate violent criminal activity that flourishes at the expense of law-abiding citizens. 

Last Parliament we succeeded in getting our tackling violent crime bill - with mandatory prison sentences for gun crime and tougher bail rules - passed into law.  But it wasn’t easy as House Leader, I had to threaten election on three separate occasions before the opposition allowed the bill to become law.  Several other tough on crime bills, like mandatory prison sentences for major drug crimes, and our identity theft bill, failed to gain the support needed from the opposition in a minority Parliament to become law.

During the last election the Conservative Government committed to continue our fight against crime.  We are delivering on this promise. We introduced amendments to the Criminal Code to address serious crimes such as gang murders, drive-by shootings of innocent victims, assault on police and public officers and the intimidation of those who serve on the front lines of our justice system.  We moved on reforms that would impose mandatory jail time for people involved in serious drug crimes.

The Government is sending an equally loud message to organized crime groups and criminals. Our Government is going to continue to get tough on crime and we are going to continue to crack down on many of the illegal activities which help organized crime to flourish, particularly the production and distribution of drugs.  These activities lead to more crime, more violence and more risk to law enforcement officers. 

The message of these changes is loud and clear.  Canadians are fed up with being afraid to walk the streets in areas where gangs are prevalent and we are going to take our communities back. 

We have also provided significant funding to programs that divert young people from criminal activity and help them make better choices.  Provisions in the form of our National Crime Prevention Strategy are an important part of our plan.

Better law enforcement helps too. We have delivered over 1500 new RCMP members and are continuing to recruit aggressively. We have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the Provinces and Municipalities to put more police on the streets of our communities.  

Our community is not immune to the harm from criminal activity that has grown over too many years where Government denied crime was a problem. Many residents have shared their stories of how their lives have been harmed by criminal activity.

Our changes to the justice system will not solve all our crime problems at once – but together with our prevention measures and more support for law enforcement they represent real change for the better – which will pay off for years to come.

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