I‘ve heard from people in Waterdown, Binbrook, Mount Hope, Stoney Creek and across our area about the wave of vehicle thefts and crime that has continued to escalate.
To address this, I spoke on auto theft in the House of Commons as well as at the Transport Committee earlier this year. I also wrote an update about it in a mailing that I sent to you in June. Then this fall, I supported my Conservative colleague, Randy Hoback’s Private Members Bill C-379, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (motor vehicle theft), which would have brought tougher sentences on career car thieves. But not only have the Liberals not done anything to address these problems, but they, along with the NDP, voted down
Bill C-379!
Enough is enough. The root cause of this increase in criminal activity is the soft-on-crime approach by the Trudeau government. It has emboldened criminals to be repeat offenders because they are often released on bail within hours of arrest, and go on to commit further crimes. And this Liberal-NDP government still has not listened or acted in the face of overwhelming evidence, including numerous Police associations telling them to reverse their disastrous policies. The President of the Hamilton Police Association pointed out that in connection with a record 54 shootings in the city so far in 2024, Hamilton Police arrested 30 people facing 196 charges and seized 323 guns. These are repeat offenders on bail for gun charges!
The revolving door bail system is no better on vehicle theft and these crimes are not a minor inconvenience. They leave families traumatized and financially burdened and ultimately end up impacting us all. Vehicle thefts cost insurance companies $1.2 Billion per year and as a result makes up as much as one-quarter of your auto insurance premiums.
One of the most concerning aspects of this crisis is the failure of Federal ports to stem the tide of stolen vehicles leaving our shores to be sold elsewhere. We know that most of the 105,000 vehicles stolen in Canada were smuggled out of the country via the Port of Montreal, and yet less than 1% of those vehicles are intercepted at the port, even though we have the technology to x-ray the shipping containers to know if they contain stolen vehicles. However, there’s just one scanner right now for the Port of Montreal, and it is so poorly maintained that it doesn’t work half the time. In fact, I asked the government a question about this back in 2023.
It doesn’t have to be this way in Canada. Common Sense Conservatives will stop the crime, hitting the brakes on auto theft and restoring a sense of security to our communities. We will bring jail, not bail, for repeat and violent offenders. We will equip our Ports with more scanners and staff to stop vehicles that are stolen in the GTHA from leaving our shores. Let’s bring home common sense to Ottawa.