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VICTORIA – Solicitor General
John van Dongen and Attorney General Wally Oppal will travel to Ottawa today to
seek the support of all federal parties for B.C.’s action plan on guns and
gangs.
“Our
top mission is to get all federal parties to support needed Criminal Code
amendments,” said van Dongen. “For years, we’ve joined police chiefs in calling
on Ottawa for key changes – including eliminating the 2-for-1 credit for time
spent awaiting trial, particularly by violent offenders and those who’ve
breached their bail. It’s time for Ottawa to act.”
“We
have to get gang members charged with offences off our streets while they are
awaiting trial so they don’t endanger the public by continuing their criminal
activity,” said Oppal. “There hasn’t been a major review of bail provisions for
over 30 years. It is time the Criminal Code was changed to reflect the serious
threat gang activity presents to the public’s safety.”
Matters
the ministers intend to discuss include:
·
The need for
major bail reform to increase public safety.
·
Eliminating
“2-for-1” credits for time served while awaiting trial, particularly for bail
breaches, weapons or violent crimes.
·
Expanding the
abilities of police and prosecutors to obtain and use wiretap evidence,
especially for new voice, text and email technologies.
·
Simplifying
evidence disclosure requirements to expedite prosecution.
The
ministers will also pursue the reintroduction of federal bills to provide more
power to detain violent youth and bring in mandatory minimum sentences for
serious drug offences. Bills C-25 and C-26 were introduced, but not passed,
before the last federal election.
B.C.’s
all-party approach to demand rapid action on these justice reforms will include
meetings with federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson; federal Liberal MPs
Marlene Jennings, Brian Murphy, John McKay, Mark Holland and Dominic LeBlanc;
NDP MP Joe Comartin and Bloc Québecois MP Réal Ménard. They will also meet with
B.C. federal Liberal MPs Hedy Fry, Sukh Dhaliwal, Ujjal Dosanjh and Keith
Martin.
-30-
Note: This news release has been updated to correct
the names of two MPs in the last paragraph.
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contact: |
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 250 356-6961 |
Ministry of Attorney General 250 387-4962 |
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