Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jan 2006
Source: Aldergrove Star (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Central Fraser Valley Star Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.aldergrovestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/989
Author: Dan Ferguson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

TORIES PROMISE CRIME CRACKDOWN

A Conservative government would get tough on crime by imprisoning 
criminals longer, hiring more police, cracking down on gun offences, 
and raising the age for sexual consent.

Tory Leader Stephen Harper unveiled the party platform in Toronto, 
near the scene of the Boxing Day shootings that killed 15-year-old 
Jane Creba, an innocent bystander.

"We should be able to walk freely on our streets. We should feel safe 
in our neighbourhoods. We should live without fear in our cities," Harper said.

The Conservative "Stand up for Security" plan would increase minimum 
prison sentences for most gun crimes, such as raising it from four to 
10 years for manslaughter and murder using a gun, and increasing 
mandatory jail terms from one year to five for using a firearm or 
imitation firearm during the commission of a crime.

The Tories would create a new category of gun crime as well, imposing 
a minimum five years in jail for stealing or trying to steal a gun or 
possessing a gun contrary to parole restrictions.

They would eliminate the gun registry for rifles, saying the money 
saved would go to hire more police, filling more than 1,000 vacant 
RCMP positions and working with provinces and municipalities to hire 
at least 2,500 more police officers.

The handgun registry would continue.

A Tory government would also raise the age of sexual consent from 14 
to 16, automatically sentence 14-year-olds who are charged with 
serious crimes as adults and spend $10 million a year over five years 
on crime prevention programs and measures to assist youth at risk. It 
would end house arrests for drug traffickers and impose mandatory 
minimum jail time for marijuana grow operators and meth lab producers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom