Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for giving us the opportunity to come and talk about Bill C-14.
As you know, our government is committed to fighting crime and ensuring the safety and security of Canadians. We've made great strides in protecting Canadians and cracking down on crime. We passed the comprehensive Tackling Violent Crime Act, which increases penalties, including for those convicted of street racing, and establishes the national anti-drug strategy to curb illicit drug use. Ours is a comprehensive approach on these matters.
Bill C-14 is another plank in our ambitious crime agenda. This important piece of legislation is an example of this government's ongoing commitment to improve the safety of our streets and communities by tackling organized crime, especially violent street gangs. I'll set out some of the major components of this, and of course I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have on this.
Gang violence is an extremely serious concern for many Canadians, especially right now in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, where recently there has been a wave of violence from gang members. I receive letters and e-mail from citizens, mayors, and attorneys general urging the federal government to take action to address the threats that gangs are posing to their communities.
Bill C-14 proposes four key reforms. They are making gang murders automatically first degree murder; creating a new offence to target drive-by and other reckless shootings; fortifying the scheme for responding to assaults against police and other peace officers and public officers; and strengthening the gang peace bond provisions.
With respect to murders that can be linked to organized crime, we are proposing amendments that would automatically treat these cases as first degree murder regardless of whether they are planned and deliberate. Furthermore, if it can be established that the murder occurred while the person was committing or attempting to commit another indictable offence for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, then it will be classed as first degree murder even in the absence of planning and deliberation. The person would obviously have to be guilty of murder in the circumstances. I want to emphasize that we are not talking about some form of constructive murder or raising manslaughter to murder in these circumstances. Rather, the effect of the provision would be to make any murder committed in the course of another criminal organization offence first degree rather than second degree.
Gang homicides account for approximately 20% of all the homicides that take place in Canada, but in British Columbia, which has been hard hit by gang violence, that number is a staggering 40% of all homicides. What is even more troubling is that gang homicide rates have been climbing each year. Clearly, this demands attention from all levels of government.
Under this law, any person found guilty of first degree murder is sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. As you know, in the case of first degree murder, there is no eligibility for parole for 25 years. In the case of second degree murder, the parole ineligibility period is a minimum of 10 years up to a maximum of 25. These amendments to section 231 of the Criminal Code mean that police officers and prosecutors will have another tool to treat gang murders as the extremely serious cases that they are.
The second area of reform relates to drive-by and other reckless shootings. We are proposing a new offence be added to the Criminal Code that would target all intentional shootings involving reckless disregard for the life or safety of others. Currently the offences available to prosecute these kinds of cases range from offences such as section 86, the careless use of a firearm, to section 244, the discharge of a firearm with intent to cause bodily harm. The negligence-based offences do not appropriately capture the seriousness of a drive-by scenario that involves consciously reckless conduct. Section 244, on the other hand, requires proof that the firearm was discharged at a particular person with a specific intent to cause bodily harm.
While the offence is clearly the more appropriate one if the shooter does have a particular target, it can sometimes be difficult to prove in a drive-by shooting scenario where the intent may be generally to intimidate a rival gang or the community. In many cases, the shooters may just be firing wildly, in any event, without a particular target. The proposed offence will fill a gap in the Criminal Code and provide a tailored response to this dangerous criminal activity.
This new offence requires that the accuseds specifically turn their minds to the fact that discharging their firearms would jeopardize the life or safety of another person, and appreciating this fact, they still went ahead. This offence would be punishable by a mandatory penalty of four years of imprisonment and a maximum of 14 years. The mandatory minimum penalty would be increased to five years if the offence were committed for the benefit of, or at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organization, or it involved the use of a prohibited or restricted firearm such as a handgun or automatic firearm. In addition, repeat offenders in these circumstances would be subject to a higher penalty, beginning at seven years of imprisonment.
A third area of reform is aimed at increasing the protection to police officers and to responding to violence committed against other justice system participants. It does this by creating two new offences to prohibit assaults causing bodily harm to police officers, or involving the use of a weapon and aggravated assaults against police officers. These offences would be punishable on indictment by a maximum imprisonment period of 10 and 14 years respectively. To ensure these offences are adequately punished, we have proposed amendments that would require a court, when sentencing an offender for any of the specific offences, to give primary consideration to the principles of denunciation and deterrence. The same principles would also apply to cases involving the intimidation of justice system participants, including judges, prosecutors, jurors, and many others who play a role in the criminal justice system.
Finally, the fourth area of reform proposed in Bill C-14 relates to the strengthening of the gang peace bond provision. These amendments would clarify that when issuing a reconnaissance order or a promise to keep the peace, judges may impose any conditions they feel are necessary to secure the good conduct of the defendant. The amendments would also provide for these orders to be extended past the normal one year up to 24 months if the defendant had been previously convicted of a criminal organization offence, or the intimidation of justice system participants offence, as well as a terrorism offence. These are important tools because they seek to prevent the commission of organized crime offences before they take place, and they are extremely useful for the police in controlling gang activity. These amendments will ensure that the orders are used as they are intended.
Mr. Chair, as I've said in the past, there can be no more important task for any government to undertake than the protection of its citizens. Bill C-14 will result in greater protection for Canadians everywhere. I think Canadians would like to see legislation like this passed, so I urge honourable members of this committee to work collaboratively and efficiently to ensure a speedy passage of this bill.
Thank you very much.
