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Stronger Laws

Canada’s new government is getting tough on crime. That’s why, since last spring, the Government has introduced five new bills that will make our communities safer.

The conditional sentencing bill proposes reforms to our laws on conditional sentencing, so people who commit serious and violent crime will serve their time behind bars—not at home or in the community.
The mandatory minimum penalties bill proposes to establish longer minimum prison sentences for individuals who use firearms to commit crimes. The message is clear: using guns to commit crimes will not be tolerated.
Strengthening our National DNA Data Bank to help our police identify the guilty and exonerate the innocent.
Maximum penalties for street racing, to keep our streets safe.
Raising the age of consent from 14 to 16 years. This legislation targets those who prey sexually upon children.

And that’s not all. Recent events have underscored the importance of ensuring that we have in place effective measures to enhance public safety and impose strict conditions on known dangerous offenders who are in our communities.

There have been renewed calls for all levels of government to re-assess existing practices and responses in this regard. We have heard these calls and understand the importance of keeping our streets and communities safe for all Canadians.

The government will do even more to tackle crime and get things done for taxpayers and families, including:

Introducing changes to the Criminal Code of Canada to toughen dangerous and high-risk offender provisions.
Cracking down on bail restriction for gun crimes.
Tabling legislation to repeal the “faint hope” clause to ensure that murderers serving a life sentence indeed serve the first 25 years in prison.

The initiatives put forward in the last few months—our criminal legislative reforms, our plan for effective gun control, our investments in safety and security—will help strengthen the justice system and make it more effective.

Conditional Sentencing Reform (Bill C-9)

Conditional sentences such as house arrest are sentences of imprisonment that may be served in the community, provided several conditions are met.

Under the proposed reforms, conditional sentences would be prohibited for offences prosecuted by indictment that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years or more.

These reforms will help ensure a cautious and more appropriate use of conditional sentences, reserving them for less serious offences that pose a low risk to community safety.
See also:

Minister of Justice moves to end house arrest for serious and violent offences (News release, May 4, 2006)
Conditional Sentencing Reform Bill (Backgrounder)
Bill C-9: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conditional sentence of imprisonment)

Mandatory Minimum Penalties (C-10)

Under the proposed reforms, people who use a firearm when committing a serious offence will receive a very tough sentence. If an offence is gang-related, or if a restricted or prohibited firearm such as a handgun is used, the minimum penalty will be:

five years on a first offence
seven years if the accused has one prior conviction involving the use of a firearm to commit an offence
ten years if the accused has more than one prior conviction for using a firearm to commit an offence

Other firearm-related offences will also be subject to higher minimum penalties. For example, firearms trafficking and smuggling, or the new offence of breaking and entering to steal firearm, would result in minimum penalties of:

three years on a first offence
five years if the accused has a serious prior firearm-related conviction

DNA Data Bank (Bill C-18)

This legislation will benefit law enforcement by strengthening a powerful crime-solving tool: the National DNA Data Bank. The proposed reforms involve a series of technical amendments to help implement earlier changes to the law, which were endorsed by Parliament in May 2005.

The new legislative changes would make it an offence to fail to appear for DNA sampling. They would also add attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder to the list of offences covered by the retroactive provisions (which apply to offenders convicted of a single murder, sexual offence or manslaughter prior to June 30, 2000). In addition, the reforms would ensure information provided by the Data Bank could be used to investigate all criminal offences.

Street Racing (Bill C-19)

On June 15, 2006, the government proposed a new street racing offence to help ensure safer streets for Canadians. The proposal would create a separate Criminal Code offence of street racing, which would include increased maximum punishments for:

dangerous driving (no bodily harm or death)
dangerous driving causing bodily harm
dangerous driving causing death
criminal negligence causing bodily harm
criminal negligence causing death

This new offence would also include escalating mandatory driving prohibitions for people convicted of street racing. These periods of driving prohibition would be in addition to the offender’s prison sentence. For more information on the proposed punishments and driving prohibitions, see:

Age of Protection (Bill C-22)

On June 22, 2006, the government introduced legislative proposals that would raise the age at which youth can consent to sexual activity from 14 to 16 years. A five year close-in-age exception is included in the legislation to ensure that consensual teenage sexual activity is not criminalized.

This legislation is part of the government’s key priority of tackling crime and increasing the safety and security of Canadian families. The proposed revision to the age of consent recognizes the threat of adult predators, which has been amplified with the use of new technologies such as the Internet. By raising the age of protection by two years, the government is targeting those who sexually prey upon some of society’s most vulnerable individuals.

This new age of protection will bring Canada’s age of consent into conformity with that of many other like-minded countries and represents the shared objective of all provinces and territories of Canada who are committed to protecting youth against sexual exploitation.