ARCHIVED - Public Safety Minister Toews Reaffirms Government Commitment to Safe Streets at Canadian Police Association AGM

OTTAWA, May 9, 2011 — Today, the Honourable Vic Toews, Canada's Minister of Public Safety, reaffirmed the Harper Government's commitment to supporting Canada's frontline police officers and vulnerable Canadians with comprehensive action that works to make our streets safer. Minister Toews made these comments during a speech at the Canadian Police Association Annual General Meeting in Ottawa.

“Our Government has been given a strong stable majority mandate to continue our work to make our communities safe. Canadians expect us to deliver on our commitments and we will not let them down,” said Minister Toews. “We will keep working to ensure that the interests of families and communities are placed above those of criminals and to ensure we have a strong, effective justice system with which to do it.”

Within the first 100 sitting days of Parliament, the Harper Government is committed to passing important legislation such as:

• Giving law enforcement up-to-date tools to fight crime in today's high-tech communications environment;
• Eliminating pardons for serious criminals, including those who sexually abuse our children;
• Replacing the automatic release of criminals to allow the Parole Board of Canada to take into account the nature and seriousness of the offense the prisoner committed, and the extent to which the prisoner is following his or her correctional program; and
• Putting public safety first when considering requests to transfer criminals back to Canada.

These measures to support our police and law abiding Canadians would build on those taken since the Harper Government first took office in 2006, including:

• Increasing spending on grants and contributions for crime prevention programs by almost 50% from $19.89M in 2008/09 to $29.08M in 2009/10, and committing almost $40M in the last fiscal year for approved projects;
• Ensuring serious criminals are accountable to victims by serving sentences that reflect the severity of their crimes, and criminals aren't released from prison early;
• Strengthening the National Sex Offender Registry so it actually works to prevent and solve crimes; and
• Supporting the provinces with a $400-million police officers recruitment fund that has increased police strength across the country to its highest since 1981.

“Our police officers are on the frontlines of protecting the safety of Canadians and their communities. We will continue to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to putting in place the tools they need to effectively do their jobs.”

Information:

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657

Date modified:

2015-11-26