Saskatchewan Conservative MP Andrew Scheer needs a few votes from opposition members to get this private member’s bill passed. While God knows that serious reform in the way youth offenders are dealt with would go a lot further in solving the problem, I think it’s a step in the right direction. At the moment, auto theft is considered a simple property theft, with penalties assigned according to value. That ignores the habit car thieves have of using stolen vehicles to commit other crimes.
The House of Commons will debate Andrew Scheer’s Private Member’s Bill to deal with car thefts. Bill C-343 is designed to create a specific offence for theft of a motor vehicle, toughen the sentences and impose mandatory minimums for repeat offenders. The Bill contains escalating penalties for first, second and subsequent offences.
Scheer says that he decided to deal with car thefts in his first Private Member’s Bill because it is an issue that affects his entire riding.
“There are towns in my riding with only a few hundred people that suffer from dozens of car thefts every year. Of course there are the problems that Regina faces with high levels of car theft as well,” Scheer said.
The Bill is supported by several stakeholder groups such as the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
If you live in a riding represented by an opposition member sympathetic to this issue (Winnipeg!), it might be worth your time to let them know what you think.
(You can reach the actual text of the bill at the link.)
Do to car theives the same way they delt with horse theives HANG THEM
Of course, I’m represented by Liberal MP Raymond Simard, the guy who voted to improve the fortunes of Quebec’s aerospace industry at the expense of Winnipeg jobs, so what chance do I have of convincing him to vote the right way this time?
I support the idea of increasing penalties for repeat offences but otherwise I don’t see making the theft of a car a major crime or the purpose in doing so? Furthermore, manufacturers need to do a better job of making cars theft proof.
It doesn’t help the 95% of us who drive vehicles already on the road. We have people in this province who have been arrested upwards of 70 times and have never served a day in custody.
Kate,
Thank you for the information! I will be linking to this as soon as I get home from the office, I think my readers in Winnipeg will appreciate this. I live in Winnipeg Centre which is the auto theft capital Canada. My MP Pat Martin will receive a note from as well though it might be a tough sell to get an NDP member to vote for a bill that gets tough on crime!
“I support the idea of increasing penalties for repeat offences but otherwise I don’t see making the theft of a car a major crime or the purpose in doing so? Furthermore, manufacturers need to do a better job of making cars theft proof.
Posted by: reformation ”
we can only hope that the juvenile thieves will embrace your position and steal your car. Twice hopefully. Three times if we are lucky.
reformation,
I’ll just politely say you’re way off base. We should be in a society where you could leave the keys in your unlocked car and it wouldn’t be stolen. YOU seem to think that the VICTIM should go to the extreme to ensure that some criminal doesn’t steal it. Do you blame women for being too sexy if they get raped? I’ll bet you blame the gun owner for crimes committed when it is stolen.
I suggest a severe caning, immediately upon apprehension. Car theft, and theft prevention, sucks hundreds of millions of dollars out of our pockets every year. Let’s put it this way – the ignition needs a KEY as does the DOOR, so how many other layers do car thieves have to penetrate for you to be satisfied that the problem is THEM and not the car?
Decrease vehicle theft about 85% overnight. How? Substitute milk and cookies with corporal punishment. Yes, it is that simple folks.
I like that caning idea. Then double the number for evry repeat offence.
reformation
Tell the family of the little 10 year old girl who was killed by drunken car thieves on Saturday 30 miles outside Regina that car theft is not a major crime.
reformation has obviously never had his vehicle stolen and his life turned upside down as a result.
When my van was stolen I was fortunate enough to have insurance coverage that gave me a rental puddle jumper to get around in. A lot of people don’t even have that coverage so they are SOL until the claim is settled and then there is the pain of finding a replacement and all.
Stealing an auto is a crime and it can be a major one at that. how would you like it if someone came up to you and robbed you of say $25,000? To be sure, I am not talking about the kids that “take” dad’s car behind his back for a ride and return it with an empty tank and the smell of beer in the back seat. My insurance claim took over a month due to the 30 day wait to see if it shows up at all, and then it was only valued at a fraction of what it was worth to me. I agree 100% with this bill since six gun justice is not allowed up in Canada (pity).
Sadly it seems that more and more in this country it is the fault of the victim not the criminal. I did a story on my blog a few weeks ago about a spokesman for MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance) who basically came out and said that the car owners were at fault for not having imobilizers installed in their vehicles.
This spokesman was a former news reporter who was awarded a cushy job by the NDP government for services provided to them while they were in opposition.
Not once during the article did MPI call for laws that would be tougher on young offenders choosing rather to chastise vehicle owners for not taking all steps possible to prevent theft.
The majority of car thefts in Winnipeg are commited by the same punks day in day out. They have actually noticed a reduction in thefts when a few of these punks are locked up for a week.
Yukon Gold and Rene: Good luck and bonne chance! MPs Simard (Winnipeg -Saint Boniface) and Martin (Winnipeg Centre) are the buffoons who first vowed they would support Harper’s Crime bill and then voted against it. The other Winnipeg Librano, Anita Neville, also voted against it, no surprise there.
I tell all my associates and friends that if they like today’s auto theft rates, just keep on voting liberal. For Saint-Boniface residents, an extra bonus; if you like seeing Manitoba jobs running off to Quebec, keep voting liberal.
No, a better solution is to work really hard in the next election to unseat these doofuses and make sure that the voters know about their despicable HoC voting records.
Neither of you will have an easy time trying to persuade your MP to vote right on this, but Rene is the more likely of you to succeed. For all that Pat Martin is a Dipper-socialist, in the intelligence department, he’s way above the two Libranos.
Let’s see:
Sponsorship Scanadal and Terrorist Party (Liberals)
The No-Such-Thing as Private Property Party (NDP)
The I-Only-Steal-From-English-Canada-Party (Bloc)
Scheer’s bill doesn’t have a hope in hell of passing unless somebody prevents the members of the three above parties from voting.
Leader Post has named the alleged culprits;
“Numerous charges have been laid against two men following a highway crash involving a stolen truck on Saturday that killed a 10-year-old girl.
Faron Lyle Akapew, 46, of Regina and a 17-year-old male from the Starblanket First Nation both a number of charges, including impaired driving causing death.”
Reports are that Akapew was already “known to police”.
And coincidentally but not related to the private members bill, the tragedy happened right smack in the middle of Andrew Scheer’s riding.
Canada is the only industrialized country in the world where the rural crime rate is higher than the urban crime rate.
why?
I reserve the answer for PC reasons.
“Pratt killed DePatie by dragging the gas station attendant under a stolen car after a gas and dash, worth just $12.30, in Maple Ridge two years ago. The 24 year old’s naked body was found seven kilometres from the station.
The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the judge at Darnell Pratt’s trial didn’t properly take into account his young age and his aboriginal background.”
http://www.news1130.com/news/topstory/article.jsp?content=20070403_150516_5380
With little reservation, cal2 i agree with your thinking here !
In Manitoba the NDP along with our government auto insurance have decided that thousands and thousands of Manitobans should install expensive electronic immobalizers on their cars to prevent theft. There are about 100 hard core car theives in this province…..I say… why don’t we just immobalize the thief instead.
The bleeding heart Liberals and NDP say that jail is not a proven deterent. Well pardon me , but if they are in jail they cannot steal my car , can they?
About 35 years ago the social engineers of the time decided that a civilized society did not punish , but rather reform with kindness and all the recreation they could handle. It has been a dismal failure on all counts. Decent people keep tightening the wagons while the human garbage rules the streets.Time to revert to the good ol’ days and make prison so miserable that the criminal element will actually give a damn and perhaps think twice about the consequence of their action.
peterj I agree completely! I had a friend who lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years and despite all the extremes of that culture, they got one thing right. He said he saw people walk out of a bank with a clear plastic bag full of cash and walk down the street like nothing. Why? They cut off your hand for theft there and it works!! A little extreme but some form of actual punishment in this country can’t hurt ! Ask any policeman.
My uncle told me about back in the 50’s how he got lashes as part of his sentence. Needless to say he only made that mistake once. I think we should reinstate many laws the liberanos criminaly removed from the books.
Andrew Scheer speaks with forked tongue. Andrew Scheer should enjoy the last few weeks/months he has left as an MP before the people give him an enforced career change.