Mr. Speaker, on Monday Reverend Ilce Miovski was tragically killed by a stolen vehicle as the driver was trying to evade the car's owner and the police.
Reverend Miovski was a constituent of mine and his loss will be deeply felt by the congregation of St. Clement Church.
His death adds to the carnage across Canada resulting from someone using a motor vehicle to evade police.
Police officers also put their lives on the line and are placed in the unwinnable position of trying to apprehend the driver or withdraw. In some cases the police are subject to legal action for the pursuit even though they were only carrying out their direct duty to the public.
Current Criminal Code provisions dealing with dangerous driving and criminal negligence causing death are not appropriate sanctions for this crime. A specific provision is needed in the code, with severe penalties for the offender.
I call on the Minister of Justice to incorporate Bill C-440 into legislation to make those who evade police pay for this act and for the senseless death and injury it can cause.
We cannot wait for more innocent people to die and for their killers to evade justice in the same way they tried to evade police.