OTTAWA – Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright welcomes the transition to the Senate of Bill C-10, a bill primarily targeted at disrupting organized crime and gangs by imposing tougher mandatory penalties on those who use a firearm to commit crimes.

C-10 is a key element in Canada's New Government's overall justice legislative agenda, demonstrating its continued commitment to protect Canadian families and make communities safer by cracking down on guns, gangs and drugs.

“Only our ‘soft on crime’ Opposition would oppose this long overdue legislation which is widely supported by Canadians,” states Benoit.
After being repeatedly stalled by the Liberals in the House of Commons, C-10 is finally making legislative progress and heading towards the Senate. In the 2006 Platform, the Liberals told Canadians they would double the mandatory sentences for serious gun related crimes. Yet, they have delayed the passage of C-10 in the House of Commons at every opportunity. It is time that a supposedly "tough on crime" Liberal Opposition figures out that it takes more than doing press conferences to get tough on crime.

C-10 will toughen sentences for serious gun offences for both "use" offences and "non-use" offences involving: attempted murder; discharging a firearm with intent; sexual and aggravated assault; kidnapping; hostage taking; robbery and extortion. C-10 originally proposed a five-year mandatory penalty for first conviction; seven years for 2nd conviction; and 10 years for a third and subsequent conviction. As amended, the bill now proposes a minimum penalty of five years on a first offence and seven years on a second or subsequent offence. Without the passage of C-10 the penalty for these gun crimes will remain at only four years, regardless of the number of previous convictions.

“Canadians have long supported a get-tough-on-crime approach and our Conservative government has acted,” confirms Benoit.

Since taking office, Canada's New Government has brought forward 12 justice bills, including legislation to restrict conditional sentences, to better fight alcohol- and drug-impaired driving, to create tougher laws against street racing, and to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 years to protect youth from adult sexual predators. Despite repeated efforts to move this legislation through the House of Commons, thus far, only two bills have become law. Canada's New Government urges the opposition to pass the outstanding pieces of legislation to protect our streets and communities and build a stronger, safer, better Canada.

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