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MINISTERS NICHOLSON AND DAY PLEDGE TO BUILD ON RECENT SUCCESSES TO COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME
OTTAWA, June 1, 2007 — Following a series of productive discussions with their provincial and territorial counterparts, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, today reaffirmed the Government of Canada’s commitment to tackling organized crime and keeping our communities safe.
“Organized crime has an impact on the daily lives of Canadians, affecting our families, our businesses, our possessions, our health and our bank accounts,” said Minister Nicholson. “This Government is taking action to combat organized crime, and we’re delivering significant measures through our legislative agenda to tackle this problem.”
“Canada’s New Government made a commitment to tackle crime and we have already announced key initiatives to bolster Canada’s capacity to combat illegal smuggling, crack down on money laundering and increase border security,” said Minister Day. “We are working with our provincial and territorial partners to fight organized crime in our communities and make our streets safer,” he added.
Since February 2006, Canada’s New Government has brought forward a number of legislative initiatives which would help disrupt organized crime. These include:
- Ending conditional sentencing or
“house arrest”
for serious violent offences (Bill C-9, which received Royal Assent yesterday); - Disrupting organized crime and gangs by imposing tougher mandatory minimum penalties on those committed with firearms offences (Bill C-10 has just been referred to the Senate after 252 days of deliberation before Parliament);
- Imposing stricter conditions on repeat offenders to keep criminals from offending again and again, and increase the maximum duration of peace bonds from 12 to 24 months, which will allow additional restrictions and conditions to be placed on the actions of released criminals (Bill C-27);
- Shifting the onus to those who are accused of serious gun crimes to prove why they should be granted bail (Bill C-35); and
- Tackling criminal activity by strengthening Canada’s ability to combat money laundering, whether it’s for terrorist activities or other illegal activities in Canada (Bill C-25, which received Royal Assent in December 2006).
The Government of Canada has also augmented its efforts in the fight against crime, through such measures as:
- Providing for an additional 1,000 RCMP personnel;
- Enhancing border security by arming border officers;
- Helping to prevent firearms from ending up in the wrong hands by investing
$14 million over two years to improve front-end screening of first-time firearms license applicants;
- Allocating $16.1 million over two years for youth at risk projects aimed at preventing crime;
- Investing $9 million over two years to set-up counterfeit currency enforcement teams across Canada;
- Commiting $64 million over two years in Budget 2007 to establish a National Anti-Drug Strategy;
- Providing an additional $6 million per year to strengthen existing initiatives to combat child sexual exploitation and human trafficking; and,
- Helping establish, through $5 million in funding over five years, a permanent location in Toronto for the Egmont Group, a global organization aimed at combating international money laundering and terrorist financing.
There have also been a number of operational successes, which have underscored the importance of partnership in fighting organized crime. In November 2006, municipal and provincial police, along with the RCMP, wrapped up one of the largest organized crime investigations in Canada, known as ProjectColisée, in Montreal.
This collaborative approach was the central theme behind the Ministerial Forum on Organized Crime, May 31– June 1, 2007, in Ottawa. Ministers Day and Nicholson hosted the Forum where FPT Ministers agreed on the need to more effectively coordinate national efforts to combat organized crime.
Ministers Day and Nicholson recently attended the G8 Summit in Munich, Germany, signaling Canada ’s commitment to continue working with other G8 countries to advance the fight against organized crime on issues such as child sexual exploitation.
Canada’s New Government, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, recently launched www.organizedcrime.ca – a website that will help build public awareness of how organized crime adver sely affects the lives of Canadians.
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For more information, visit the websites: www.PublicSafety.gc.ca and http://canada.justice.gc.ca/
