HARPER ANNOUNCES NEW MEASURES TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND INCREASE PENALTIES FOR SERIOUS CRIMES

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today outlined a re-elected Conservative government’s plan to keep communities safe and crack down on criminals, including new funding for Child Advocacy Centres, research into the impact of crime on victims, and tougher penalties for serious crimes including murder and drunk driving.

“Our government has a proven record of doing what is right to support victims, make communities safe and get criminals off our streets,” the Prime Minister said. “But we can – and we will – do much more to protect Canadian families and children.”

Key next steps of the Conservative plan to support victims and crack down on serious criminals include:

• Doubling funding for Child Advocacy Centres and Child and Youth Advocacy Centres which coordinate the investigation, prosecution and treatment of crimes against children.
• Helping existing Centres provide satellite services to communities outside urban centres.
• Funding research on the “invisible” economic and social damage inflicted on victims of crime.
• Passing on a priority basis the “Life Means Life” Act which will ensure Canada’s most heinous offenders receive a life sentence without any chance of parole.
• Passing the Dangerous and Impaired Driving Act which increases penalties for repeat offenders, simplifies the burden of proof for establishing blood alcohol concentration, and speeds up impaired driving related court cases.

“As part of our plan going forward, we will make our Life Means Life Act the government’s top justice priority in the fall parliamentary session,” the Prime Minister said, adding that his government will also pass the Dangerous and Impaired Driving Act within one hundred days of a new Parliament.

At an event with child victim’s advocate Sheldon Kennedy, the Prime Minister noted that his government had already introduced a number of measures to protect children including tougher penalties for sex offenders, strengthening the Sex Offender Registry, increasing the age of consent and establishing Child Advocacy Centres.

The Prime Minister noted that many of the government’s more than 60 anti-crime bills had been opposed by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Thomas Mulcair’s NDP, including the Life Means Life Act.

“Justin’s criminal justice priority is to change the law to allow the sale of marijuana in corner stores, making it more accessible to our children,” said the Prime Minister.

“The soft-on-crime NDP have a dangerous ideology-driven criminal justice policy that would make our communities less safe by putting the so-called “rights” of criminals ahead of the rights of victims.

“Only a re-elected Conservative government will make it a priority to fight crime, protect our children and make our communities safe.”