Ottawa, ON – For too long, Liberal soft-on-crime laws and reckless immigration policies let extortionists enter our country, making Canada less safe and Canadians less secure. Not even ten years after Liberals took power, extortion is up by an astounding 330 per cent.
Despite that spike, the Liberals have repeatedly voted down Conservative proposals to toughen sentencing and close loopholes – and repeal the laws that put dangerous criminals back on our streets.
That’s why today, Conservatives introduced a motion calling on the government to take real, common-sense action to reverse course and protect innocent Canadians by:
- Barring non-citizens convicted of serious crimes from making refugee claims;
- Barring non-citizens with active judicial proceedings related to serious crimes from making refugee claims;
- Ending the practice of leniency to non-citizens convicted of serious crimes to avoid deportation; and
- Repeal bills C-5 and C-75 to ensure repeat extortionists stay in jail.
Conservatives have long warned against a two-tier justice system where judges consider a non-citizen’s immigration status in sentencing. That’s why Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, introduced Bill C-220 last fall to address it.
Last week, she called on the Ministers of Justice and Immigration to cooperate on Opposition proposals to disallow those accused of serious crimes from making asylum claims, citing BC Premier David Eby’s frustration with current laws.
His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is willing to work with the Liberals to help pass the government’s bail Bill C-14, because even an inadequate reform is better than nothing. But deeper change is still needed. Conservatives call on all Members of Parliament to support this common-sense motion, and work to close the careless loopholes and reckless policies that make Canadians unsafe.