(Ottawa) The Trudeau government is on the wrong track in wanting to abolish the minimum prison sentences imposed on individuals who commit crimes with a firearm at the very moment of an outbreak of gun violence in the Montreal region, says the Conservative Party.
Posted yesterday at 6:03 p.m.
The abolition of minimum sentences for certain crimes is part of Bill C-5 led by Minister of Justice David Lametti. The latter maintains that this reform is necessary in order to remove certain mandatory minimum sentences that affect more Aboriginal people and black Canadians, who would be imprisoned in a disproportionate way compared to the rest of the Canadian population.
Bill C-5, which amends the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, would allow a judge to exercise discretion to impose sentences related to the nature of a case, including considerations about the person’s experience with systemic racism and the risk it poses to public safety.
This would allow for greater use of conditional sentences, including house arrest, therapy or treatment, for people who do not pose a threat to public safety.
But according to the Conservative Party, this reform casts too wide a net. Above all, it sends a very bad message to the members of street gangs who have been raging in the streets of Montreal and its suburbs for several months.
Since the beginning of the year, the Montreal Police Department has been reporting that an event involving a firearm has taken place every two days, recalled Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus on Tuesday, who called on the government Trudeau to redo his homework in order to better protect the public.
“Shootings by street gangs are on the rise. There were three in Laval last week. […] Bill C-5 will ensure that robbery with a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent, possession of a prohibited firearm will no longer be subject to minimum sentences. So the street gangs are paying the price of everyone, ”launched Mr. Paul-Hus in the Commons.
The Conservative Party devoted almost all of its questions to this scourge on Tuesday in the House of Commons, forcing some of the tenors of the Trudeau government to defend the federal record in terms of security and gun control.
“The Laval Police Service says that criminals today are impulsive and disorderly. What is the Liberal government doing? He proposes to abolish mandatory minimum sentences for offenses related to the possession of firearms with his bill. It’s simple. The Liberal approach is to allow armed criminals to continue to walk the streets,” said Deputy Conservative Party Leader Luc Berthold.
Many witnesses who have appeared before the House of Commons justice committee over the past few weeks have highlighted some of the shortcomings of Minister Lametti’s bill.
Laval Police Service director Pierre Brochet, who is also president of the Association of Quebec Police Directors, is among those who have expressed reservations.
“We are sending a very bad message by reducing the sentences for these crimes. Removing mandatory minimum sentences will ensure that very violent criminals get off with lesser sentences. These people who are ready to do this are highly criminalized. We may be idealistic, but they will not stop when they get out of prison, ”he argued last week.
Citizen organizations have also recently mounted the barricades. “Bill C-5 is in perfect dichotomy with the social context of armed violence,” said Stéphane Wall, a retired Montreal police officer who is one of the spokespersons for the Community of Citizens in Action. Against Violent Criminals (CCACV).
In the absence of Justice Minister David Lametti, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino defended Bill C-5.
“This bill aims to get rid of policies that have failed in the past. This will allow us to decide between those who are on their first offense and who do not deserve to go to prison. In the past, these policies have not had a deterrent effect and have not improved safety. They affected the most vulnerable Canadians the most, said Minister Mendicino.
With the Canadian Press