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Central Okanagan-Similkamin-Nikola MP Dan Albas
This week is a non-sitting week for the House of Commons, which allows lawmakers to return to their rides to meet and hear the concerns of locals.
One of the challenges of public office is, while some issues may fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of local, provincial or federal government, other concerns overlap and fall under several jurisdictions.
I raise this issue because one of the serious concerns that I hear from many communities in our region is the large number of criminals and what many call our judicial system ‘catch and release’.
The mayor of Kelowna, Colin Basran, as well as the MLA of Kelowna-West Ben Stewart, met with me to share information and convey concerns, as did many residents looking for answers to what remains a thorny question. In almost every community there is a small but very well-known group of offenders who commit serious crimes in the usual way.
A recent community news article summed up the situation well: “A judge gave bail to a prolific offender in court on Wednesday afternoon, giving him another chance to comply with his terms after being arrested several times for alleged non-compliance.
The offender in question has reportedly already had 60 convictions in the past decade.
The police are also extremely disappointed. In some situations, these criminals will commit crimes within hours of being released while awaiting trial.
When you hear from victims, it is devastating. At an advanced age caused by mobility, her motorized scooter was stolen from a guarded underground garage. He is not insured and cannot afford to change it. The elderly woman is already attached to the house and her quality of life has deteriorated enormously.
The person (believed to be) was responsibly arrested, charged and immediately released and again (believed to be) committing crimes within the community.
At the provincial level, the British Columbia government has acknowledged that it is aware that this is a serious problem, but has no idea how to solve it. Attorney General David Ebby has announced that the government will hire two experts to come up with ideas on how to take action on this serious issue.
Fortunately, in our group of the conservative opposition we have a new MP with significant experience in this area. Frank Caputo, an MP from Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, is a former Crown Prosecutor with experience in correction, who also served as a law professor at Thompson Rivers University.
He recently introduced a bill for private members C-274. When he introduced the bill, he noted that approximately 5% of offenders commit 90% of crimes involving police resources. Many of these criminals commit these crimes while awaiting trial for other crimes.
Bill C-274 proposes to create “alleged detention” for criminals charged with three or more felonies with a maximum sentence of five years or more. This would not be a mandatory requirement, but would allow judges more discretion to keep serious criminals in prison where they cannot continue to commit recidivism.
If a judge considers that there is an exceptional reason or circumstance for the release of an ordinary offender, he will still have the discretion to release the person.
This bill will not solve all the challenges facing our local communities in crime, but it could certainly help local law enforcement to deal with serious recidivists. I was proud of the second bill C-274.
My question this week:
Do you support this bill?
I can contact [email protected] or call toll-free 1-800-665-8711
This article was written by or on behalf of a prominent columnist and does not necessarily reflect Castanet’s views.
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