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OTTAWA, ON – Candice Hoeppner, Member of Parliament for Portage—Lisgar, is dismayed that the Liberal-dominated Senate amended a bill targeting people who sell drugs to kids, once again weakening the Conservative Government’s action to get tough on crime.
The Liberal-dominated Senate voted Wednesday to remove the mandatory minimum sentence requirement for some drug offenders from Bill C-15. The bill would have cracked down on criminals by ensuring mandatory jail time for serious drug offences that involve organized crime, violence, or preying on youth.
“Michael Ignatieff needs to explain to Canadians why his Liberal Senators gutted this important piece of anti-crime legislation,” Hoeppner stated. “Mr. Ignatieff keeps saying that he is tough on crime, but time after time, when it comes down to it, he’s not supporting our measures to tackle crime, and he’s putting the safety of children at risk as a result.”
Under the legislation, persons found guilty of trafficking who also had previous drug convictions would have received a minimum one-year prison term. With the new amendments of the Senate, mandatory terms would apply only if the offender had spent a year or more behind bars for their previous conviction.
Hoeppner noted that the Senate amendments mean that people trafficking in up to 200 marijuana plants don’t face mandatory jail time. “Our legislation would have had a significant impact at street-level in targeting those individuals who sell drugs to kids – often gateway drugs like marijuana that lead to increased drug use.”
“Our Government remains concerned about drug use, and we will continue to do whatever it takes to overcome Liberal soft-on-crime ideology and partisan gamesmanship to keep Canadian families and children safe,” Hoeppner concluded. |
