Liberal
Government’s Justice Strategy
By:
Stéphane Dion, Leader of the Official Opposition
A new Liberal government would pursue a tough, effective strategy to fight crime and make our communities safer, while respecting the rights of Canadians.
I am committed to protecting our homes and our rights. I will pursue a set of policies to fight crime – for every person, every family, and every community in our great country.
We need to adopt a comprehensive and effective approach that deals with every aspect of fighting crime: preventing crime before it happens, catching criminals when they commit crimes, convicting criminals through competent and quick administration, and rehabilitating criminals once they are convicted. That is what I commit to do as Prime Minister.
I have put forward a plan to ensure that we are focused on the one deterrent we know actually works – the certainty of getting caught and convicted. A future Liberal government will put more police officers on our streets, more prosecutors in the courts and will appoint more judges.
This is why we will allocate an extra $200 million to the RCMP to hire 400 additional officers. These officers will form a new Rapid Enforcement Team to provide immediate support to local police departments to combat guns and gang activity, including organized crime and drug trafficking. This initiative will give the criminal justice system another necessary tool in the ongoing battle against crime.
Further, a new Liberal government would immediately convene a roundtable meeting of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers to commence discussions on developing a long-term sustainable cost-sharing arrangement for additional local community police officers. This roundtable meeting would include representatives of the Canadian Association of Police Boards (CAPB), Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and Canadian Police Association (CPA) who have recently sent a joint letter to the Conservative government demanding action on community policing.
The Conservative government has broken its election promise to provide money for additional front-line police officers, so a new Liberal government will make sure that the much-needed additional resources are there for that purpose. The Liberal Party will not let policing organizations down.
Last fall, we offered our support to the Conservative government to pass six criminal justice bills as quickly as possible but, rather than accept our offer, they chose to play partisan politics, and only fast-tracked one bill - the street racing legislation.
In March of this year, we renewed our offer to work with the government to fast track various crime bills through Parliament. The original Liberal plan called for the support and swift passage of bills on: Conditional Sentencing; DNA Identification; Street Racing; Age of Consent; Criminal Procedure; and Pay Day Loans. Five of these bills originated with the previous Liberal government.
This offer now also includes Reverse Onus in Bail Hearings. While the Liberal Opposition has managed to overcome the Conservative obstructionist techniques and push forward some of these bills, too many of them are still stalled because the Conservatives prefer to set up roadblocks.
The Liberal crime strategy is a sharp contrast to the Conservative government’s focus on rhetoric and fear-mongering. This government is desperate to prove that it’s tough on crime, but does not back its rhetoric up with action. Why will they not accept the Liberal Opposition’s offer to fast track their own crime legislation? How can they explain why they have neglected their own campaign promise to provide money for additional front-line police officers on our streets, despite calls for assistance from police associations?
The only explanation is that the Conservatives’ crime policies are more about scoring political points than making our streets safer. Victims of crime don't care about politics or headlines. They just want to know that criminals will be stopped, caught and punished.
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For More Information:
A photo of Stéphane Dion is available at:
http://www.liberal.ca/images/pages/Dion%20solo%203.jpg
Press Office
Office of the Leader of the Opposition
(613) 995-5904
