LOCAL MP GETS A RIDE IN A CRUISER

Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis, in conjunction with the Conservative Party's
Safe Streets and Healthy Communities Task Force, met with local police over
two days last week.

Guergis said she was at the Nottawasaga OPP detachment in Beeton on Tuesday
and on Wednesday at the Huronia West OPP in Wasaga Beach and the
Collingwood-Blue Mountains OPP.

"The goal of the task force, and my tour of Simcoe-Grey, is to gain a
better understanding of the emerging crime issues and to listen to proposed
solutions for enhanced law enforcement, sentencing and how to get to the
root of crime in Canada," Guergis said. She added the Tories want to be
"even more prepared to deal with crime when we form the next government".

In an interview Monday, Guergis said police are frustrated with a court
system that doesn't really order jail time for people who are convicted,
but rather allows probation or suspended sentence.

"There is no real consequence," Guergis said.

Police also tell her, she added, that youth crime is on the rise. The young
people of the riding are turning to crimes that generate money to support
drug habits, Guergis said.

As such Guergis noted she's against the decriminalization of marijuana,
calling it a stepping stone to more "hard core" drugs like crack cocaine.
Police in the riding also told her there needs to be more officers on the
ground. As well, law enforcement officials talked about a backlog in the
court system, she said.

The present situation is something the first-term Member of Parliament
blames on "12 years of Liberal neglect."

Opposition Leader Stephen Harper launched the Tory task force in August
2005. The party says that overall not enough is being done to "improve
Canadians' sense of security, whether in their homes, on the streets or in
their communities."

The party cites while a recent Statistics Canada report notes the overall
crime rate is down by one per cent the national homicide rate rose 12 per
cent in 2004.

At the time of the task force's creation, Harper said: "The rise of crystal
methamphetamine use, the spread of grow-ops, and the steady rise of gang
violence are just three of the most pressing new problems affecting the
safety and health of our communities."

Chairing the task force is Russ Hiebert, a British Columbia member of the
party and Whitby-Ajax MPP Jim Flaherty, a former attorney general in
Ontario. Guergis said she's trying to arrange a meeting between Hiebert,
Flaherty and local police so they can get first hand knowledge of the
situation in Simcoe-Grey.

On the party's website the Tories outline their criminal justice policies.
They include:

- - A greater emphasis on the protection of society through the prevention of
crime and the needs and rights of victims.

- - Strengthening the legal system's ability to judge dangerous offenders
appropriately so that dangerous offenders will not be released until they
are no longer a threat.

- - The registration of all convicted sex and dangerous offenders,
retroactive to the date of first conviction and mandatory DNA sampling.

- - The introduction of mandatory, minimum sentences for violent and repeat
offenders.

- - The establishment of a national victims' ombudsman.

- - Tougher laws for dealing with organized crime.

- - New measures to make sure young violent or repeat offenders age 14 or
older are tried as adults.

- - Stronger laws for dealing with child pornography.

- - The creation of a national missing persons registry.