MP's Report

BILL BRINGS TOUGH PENALTIES FOR CRIMINALS

It has been a busy time in Ottawa. The House Committee has just
passed a massive reform to the criminal justice system requiring
mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, and raising the age
of protection from 14 to 16.

Our Conservative government has taken action on justice reform, but
we believe that there is more to be done.

We have recently introduced three justice bills to tackle young
offenders, require mandatory minimum sentences for drug dealers, and
crack down on identity theft.

The first piece of legislation will add new measures to protect
communities from young offenders.

It will allow judges to impose punishments on young offenders who
commit serious offences with the objective of deterring and
denouncing their actions.

As well, this legislation will make it easier to detain youth in
custody prior to their trials if they pose a risk to the public.

These changes will help hold young offenders accountable to their
victims and their community.

As we all know, drugs often have deadly consequences and our
communities in Yellowhead are not immune to this problem.

This is why we have introduced legislation that will invoke mandatory
jail time for people who commit serious crimes of producing and
selling illegal drugs.

With the following changes, our message will be clear: if you sell or
produce drugs, you will do time in jail:

. a one-year mandatory prison sentence will be imposed for dealing
drugs such as marijuana when carried out for organized crime
purposes, or when a weapon or violence is involved;

. a two-year mandatory prison sentence will be imposed for dealing
drugs such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamines to youth, or for
dealing those drugs near a school or an area normally frequented by youth;

. A two-year mandatory prison sentence will be imposed for the
offence of running a large marijuana grow operation of at least 500 plants;

. The maximum penalty for cannabis production will increase from 7 to
14 years imprisonment; and

. Tougher penalties will be introduced for trafficking GHB and
flunitrazepam (most commonly known as date-rape drugs).

Our final piece of legislation is aimed at combating identity theft,
which is one of the fastest growing problems in North America.

Currently, the preparatory stages of collecting, possessing, and
trafficking identity information are generally not captured by
existing offences.

The new legislation will directly target aspects of the identity
theft problem, which will all be subject to a five-year maximum sentence:

. obtaining or possessing identity information with intent to use it
to commit certain crimes;

. trafficking in identity information with knowledge of or
recklessness as to its intended use in the commission of certain crime;

. unlawfully possessing and trafficking in government-issued identity
documents.

We have introduced tough legislation to deal with criminals who
rarely face consequences for their actions and we will continue to
work hard to ensure that these measures are passed into law.