GOVERNMENT OF CANADA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO TACKLE AUTO THEFT AND PROPERTY CRIME

April 21, 2009

WINNIPEG, April 21, 2009 – Today, on behalf of The Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Shelly Glover, Member of Parliament for Saint Bonfiace, welcomed the introduction of legislation to tackle the serious crime of auto and property theft.

“Auto theft is so much more than just a property crime. Our auto thieves have put innocent lives and police officers at risk and their desire to get away at all costs has sometimes caused grave injuries and fatalities. That is one of the important reasons our government is targeting auto theft.” declared MP Glover.

The legislation is aimed at tackling property crime in general, but in particular the serious crime of auto theft. The proposed legislation would:

• create a separate offence of "theft of a motor vehicle", which would carry a  mandatory prison sentence of 6 months for conviction of a third or subsequent indictable offence;
• establish a new offence for altering, destroying or removing a vehicle identification number (VIN).
• make it an offence to traffic in property obtained by crime; and
• make the possession of such property for the purpose of trafficking an offence.

In addition, these amendments would provide for the application of customs powers to allow the Canada Border Services Agency to identify and prevent stolen property from leaving the country, thus providing a means to address the problem of the exportation of stolen vehicles from Canada by organized crime.

“This proposed legislation will give our law enforcement authorities and the courts better tools to fight this kind of crime,” said MP Glover.

An online version of the legislation is available at www.parl.gc.ca.