Tough New Anti-Crime Bill Could Trigger Election
The Tories unveiled a tough new anti-crime bill on Thursday warning the Liberals that if they try and change it, it could trigger an election.
The Tackling Violent Crime Act includes elements of several bills that didn't pass in the last session of Parliament, including violent gun crimes, the age of sexual consent, impaired driving, bail rules and dangerous offenders.
The Liberals supported some of these measures in the last session, but they opposed laws that would make it easier to classify repeat felons as dangerous offenders.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper won power in January 2006 on a platform that promised to crack down on crime.
He has now combined the bills into one giant piece of draft legislation and made it clear to Parliament he's treating it as a matter of confidence and expects a speedy approval without changes.
"This is the centrepiece and the first in a series of criminal bills that will be introduced," said Justice Minister Ron Nicholson.
Nicholson said the anti-crime act will be considered a matter of confidence; defeating the bill would trigger an election.
"We will be holding particularly the Liberals to account on this," Nicholson told a news conference.
The bill would:
- make it mandatory for those convicted of three or more serious violent or sexual crimes to show the courts why they shouldn't be deemed dangerous offenders who could be locked up indefinitely
- increase mandatory minimum jail sentences for people who commit serious or repeat firearms offenses
- raise the age of sexual consent to 16 from 14, with some exceptions
- strengthen penalties for those caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- restrict the release on bail of people charged with offenses involving firearms
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