After nine years in power, the Liberal government says it’s getting serious about car thefts.
At a Brampton, Ont. press conference on Monday, the government unveiled its “national action plan” on auto thefts.
“We want to build on the joint enforcement actions that have taken place since the national summit on combating auto theft,” said Public Safety Minister LeBlanc. The government, through its latest budget, plans to toughen penalties for car thefts, enhance information sharing between various law enforcement agencies and the government, and further cooperate with the port and rail industry.
Minister of Justice Arif Virani announced several new offences that will be added to the Criminal Code aimed at targeting auto thieves.
In specific, Virani announced new offences for auto thefts linked to violence, an offence targeting leaders of organised auto theft rings, and offences for the possession and distribution of devices used to commit auto theft, such as key programming machines.
New offences would also be created to target those who launder the proceeds of stolen vehicle sales and other crimes at the behest of a criminal organization.
An aggravating factor would also be created for adults who bring a minor to accompany them in their crime to dissuade adults creating youth offenders.
A Conservative spokesperson slammed the announcement as a “Liberal photo-op,” pointing to the government’s record overseeing a widespread surge in auto thefts.
“Justin Trudeau’s Liberal ministers will hold another one of their photo ops to talk about the out of control auto theft crisis they’ve caused,” said Pierre Poilievre’s spokesperson.
“It truly comes as a shock that their endless meetings and photo ops on this subject have yielded absolutely no results, other than to make the situation much worse.”
The spokesperson pointed to the soaring rates of auto theft and record-high insurance claims for auto thefts during Justin Trudeau’s time in office..
“Here is the sobering truth about the situation after nine years of Justin Trudeau – a car is stolen every six minutes in this country and car theft is up 34%,” the Conservatives said.
In February, Poilievre announced his party’s plan to crack down on auto thefts if elected, promising to lock up repeat offenders, lengthen sentences while removing the possibility of house arrest, and give additional funding to the Canadian Border Services Agency to hire more agents and buy x-ray equipment.
Over the past several years, a wave of auto theft has swept over Canada’s major cities far beyond normal levels.
In Toronto, instances of motor vehicle theft have increased by over 350% from 2015-2023 while the Region of Peel has been reeling from an over 200% increase from 2020-2024.
Last week the Insurance Bureau of Canada announced that the cost to replace stolen vehicles has reached a record-breaking $1.5 billion in 2023, a three-fold increase from the 2018-2021 average.
