GETTING TOUGH ON CRIME

Criminals don't stop. They don't stop for constitutional emergencies.
They don't stop for presidential visits and they certainly don't stop
during global economic crises.

For a while, the media focus was off crime and onto the challenges
facing Canada during these troubling economic times. But recent
examples of extreme gang violence in British Columbia are a stark
reminder that the safety of Canadian families requires constant
vigilance. We cannot afford to take the security of law abiding
citizens for granted.

We are very fortunate to be living in Burlington. According to
Maclean's magazine's 2009 Most Dangerous Cities list, Halton has been
named the safest regional municipality in Canada and the safest place
to live in the GTA. Congratulations to our Halton police for its hard
work in keeping our community safe. However, there is more work to be done.

Criminal gangs have been growing in power and scope and our
government is taking meaningful action. The rights of the victims
have been ignored in the past while the plight of the criminals was
all that seemed to matter. Since taking office, the Conservative
government has made great strides toward improving our ability to
prevent crime, apprehend criminals and prosecute them accordingly.
But there is more to do.

Last week, we introduced new legislation that will crack down on
gang-related drug trafficking and violence. These new laws will mean
mandatory prison sentences for anyone convicted of organized crime
related to drug trafficking or weapons offences. Judges will be able
to impose mandatory prison terms for crimes where drugs are sold to
children or where sales are made near schools or places that children
are often found. The new laws will also raise the maximum penalties
for producing illegal drugs from 7-14 years. In addition, murders
connected to gangs and organized crime will be automatically
classified as first-degree. These new laws build on our previous
actions to keep Canadians safe. Since first being elected in 2006,
the Conservative government has taken strong, deliberate action to
protect our streets and neighbourhoods. We've delivered 1,500 new
RCMP officers and are working with the provinces and municipalities
toward hiring 2,500 new municipal police officers. We took action
with laws for mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes. We
introduced tougher laws to keep gun criminals off our streets and
tougher sentences for repeat violent offenders. Our Tackling Violent
Crime Act became law early last year. I have been fully supportive of
this act to make Burlington a safer community.

Criminals don't stop and neither will our government. This new action
to fight gang crime and protect law abiding Canadians will build on
our previous actions to deliver safer communities across the country.

For additional information, please contact my office at
wallam1@parl.gc.ca or 905-639-5757.