Government of Canada Introduces Legislation to Tackle Auto Theft and Property Crime

April 21, 2009

OTTAWA, April 21, 2009 – Today the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, introduced legislation to tackle property theft, including the serious crimes of auto theft and trafficking in property that is obtained by crime.

“The best way to fight gangs and organized crime is to disrupt the criminal enterprises they depend on,” says Tom Lukiwski, Member of Parliament for Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre. “That is why our Government is cracking down on auto theft.”

Trafficking in stolen property, along with other for-profit criminal activities such as drug trafficking and fraud, has been identified as a primary activity for organized crime. Auto theft, one form of property crime, impacts more individual Canadians and businesses than any other.  The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates that auto theft costs more than $1 billion each year, taking into account health care, court, policing, legal and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles. 

This proposed legislation will give our law enforcement authorities and the courts better tools to fight this kind of crime, along with the entire range of activities involved in the trafficking of all types of stolen or fraudulently obtained property.

The legislation is aimed at tackling property crime in general, but in particular the serious crime of auto theft which often involves organized crime. The proposed legislation would:

• create a separate offence of "theft of a motor vehicle", which would carry a  mandatory prison sentence of 6 months for conviction of a third or subsequent indictable offence;
• establish a new offence for altering, destroying or removing a vehicle identification number (VIN).
• make it an offence to traffic in property obtained by crime; and
• make the possession of such property for the purpose of trafficking an offence.

In addition, these amendments would provide for the application of customs powers to allow the Canada Border Services Agency to identify and prevent stolen property from leaving the country, thus providing a means to address the problem of the exportation of stolen vehicles from Canada by organized crime.

“The movement of stolen property through Canada’s borders, especially automobiles, is a profitable enterprise for organized crime,” says Lukiwski. “This law would expressly prohibit the importation or exportation of property obtained by crime, thereby giving our border security officers the authority they need to identify and detain stolen and other illegally obtained property and keep our borders secure.”