The BC Conservative leader says it’s time to put an end to violent crimes and abolish the catch and release policy to make communities safer again.
According to Statistics Canada, the violent crime rate in Canada has increased five per cent since 2019, but the province has said there is still a crime rate of 15.5 violent offences per 1,000.
Leader John Rustad says crime rates and incidents have peaked and his party is committed to making sure people stay behind bars and get the sentence they deserve.
“We need to crack down on things like bail reform, and toughen the charge assessment guidelines,” he says. “Under the NDP, no charge has increased by 75 per cent.
“We need to make sure we fight for guaranteed minimum sentencing in BC, and if it’s a federal issue, we need to take on the government to bring this forward.”
Rustad adds giving policing back more power to arrest criminals is increasing the number of people to handle criminals, and he says putting more resources in place would help expedite making the streets safe.
“We also need to hire more sheriffs and judges, there is no question that it’s difficult to get through the process without streamlining it,” he says.
One of the ways Rustad says a conservative government would speed up the process is by adding a system into the courts just to handle smaller cases to reduce the current backlog.
“We will be creating a new statutory court to deal with minor offenses,” he says. “We need to get them out of the system and get them through fast.”
Rustad says his party would focus on ensuring public safety by defending the police, enforcing mandatory mental health treatment, and having zero tolerance for criminal and nuisance behaviour.
According to the party, they would also crush organized crime and drug networks by securing the ports and getting Fentanyl off the streets.
According to the national crime severity index, rates for homicides in Nanaimo dropped 14 per cent, but crimes in extortion were up 35 per cent and robbery was up four per cent.
