TORIES PLAN TO GET TOUGH ON CRIME: GUERGIS

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 Whity-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.