Mr. Speaker, if the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke believes he is a horse's ass I will grant him that.
Getting back to Bill C-219, it was obvious the member did not understand what he was talking about. The concept of this bill put forward by the member for Wild Rose originated in August 1996 at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. One of the resolutions that came out of that meeting was the unanimous consent to add a minimum jail sentence when a stolen vehicle is used in the commission of a crime.
Bill C-219 would amend the Criminal Code to provide for a minimum sentence to be levied when someone used a stolen vehicle in the commission of a crime. There is not rocket science about that but the Liberals have a hard time understanding what this bill is about. This would simply put the police chiefs' resolution into practice.
The member for Wild Rose did receive a letter from the Canadian Police Association. For those Liberals who do not know, these are the frontline workers who deal with crime on a daily basis and are witness to crime committed using a stolen vehicle. They say to the member for Wild Rose: “The measures proposed in Bill C-219 are therefore necessary to address this public safety concern and we appreciate and support your efforts in this regard”.
The last Liberal member who spoke said that support from the Canadian police chiefs and the Canadian Police Association did not exist. I am happy to inform him that it does exist in a letter of support for this bill.
Let me deal with another statement. The member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke said we should not be hard on someone who has had a minor indiscretion and steals a vehicle and goes for a joyride. I have never heard such a ridiculous statement in my life. Does the member know that there are many people killed in this country by people who have had, in his words, some minor indiscretions? They have stolen a vehicle, gone for a joyride only to wipeout some pedestrian on a street corner, or on a crosswalk, or slam head on into another vehicle and kill someone. Does he understand that when he makes that statement? I find it pretty hard to take statements like that considering the consequences of this so-called minor indiscretions.
He also says the Canadian judicial system does not want or does not need an amendment to the Criminal Code like this. He says that in his opinion and in the opinion of the government Canadians are well served by what is in the Criminal Code now. The Criminal Code does not, even in Bill C-41 which he talked about and which I do not think he understood either, provide for an additional sentence to be levied against someone who commits a crime using a stolen vehicle. It does provide for an additional minimum sentence for someone who uses a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Threatening with a firearm, using a vehicle or using any other type of device in a commission of a crime and being a threat to public safety, should there not be a provision to address that and to provide not only a penalty but perhaps deterrence? Stolen vehicles in this country are at an epidemic stage. Around 20% of all vehicles stolen are stolen for the purposes of committing a crime. They are used as get away vehicles or for whatever purpose.
While the government may make light of the member for Wild Rose's private member's bill, I think it is a little misinformed about the statistics. It is also misinformed about the opinion of the police who are out there on the streets every day. It is also misinformed about the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the support it has for the bill.
Since 1988 auto thefts have grown about 80%, another 9% in 1996 alone. This is the eighth straight year of dramatic increase in the theft of vehicles.
The primary motivations for stealing cars or trucks are joyriding, transportation for criminal purposes, breaking and entering, robbery, drive-by shootings, or they simply strip the vehicles for parts.
This costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars every year to the provinces. I think the government has an opportunity here to provide not only a penalty but perhaps deterrence. Deterrence and penalties are foreign words to the Liberal government. We have seen it and are seeing it in its approach to the impaired driving issue.
I want to go to that because we are talking about deterrence and penalties. The justice committee has a mandate to amend the Criminal Code to enhance deterrence to impaired driving and ensure the penalties reflect the seriousness of the crime.
Yesterday, I understand, someone was arrested who was drunk. The person was handcuffed and put in a police car. Somehow the person got the handcuffs in front of them, stole the police cruiser while intoxicated, took off down the highway, smashed into another car and killed two people. This was in Quebec. Under the Liberal philosophy on how we should treat this person, it is not their fault. They were obviously discriminated against in their childhood and it is society to blame, not the person.
I just hope the mandate received by the justice committee to amend the Criminal Code to enhance deterrence and assess appropriate penalties to impaired drivers is somehow recognized in the next few weeks. I do have my doubts, given what has happened thus far.
I think it was absolutely highly irresponsible of the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke to refer to the stealing of a vehicle for the purpose of joyriding as some sort of brief indiscretion, considering the carnage that has been caused by just such an act. He should apologize to the families of the victims who have been killed by joyriders and those who have been left with permanent injuries as a result of minor indiscretions by joyriders. He should be ashamed of himself for making a statement like that in the House. It proves that if we look at something long enough we will take on the characteristics of it.