Justice committee  Sir, I can tell you that in 32 years in policing, I have never yet seen anyone who has a lawful reason or a legitimate reason for removing it while doing an oil change or repair work. Subsection 354(2) is what we have always referred to as the presumption section. And it does refer in proposed subsection 353.1(1) to a “lawful excuse”.

Justice committee  The addition of proposed subsection 351.1(3) is, in our view, likely to provide an unwarranted defence to persons charged in relation to stolen vehicles or parts thereof. Proposed subsection 351.1(3) will give auto thieves a defence by merely giving the excuse that the VIN was removed or altered to repair the vehicle, or, in the case of thieves, to modify or to disassemble the vehicle.

Justice committee  I have some general statistics and trends. Construction equipment theft, although not as high as for automobiles or pickup trucks, is still a major concern across Canada. Last fall, as an example, four members of our association lost new-model Caterpillar motor graders. Each one of these was worth a quarter of a million dollars, and you can imagine the number of Honda Civics, in dollar value, you would need to add up to the value of these four stolen machines.