Good afternoon.

Thank you, House committee members. Thank you for including Peel Regional Police in your study of the growing crisis of auto thefts in Canada.

Our police service has been at the forefront of this issue since its onset. Despite these efforts, we continue to have one of the highest per capita rates of stolen vehicles in the country. Last year alone, over 7,000 vehicles were taken from our region. This has become a significant threat to the safety and security of our cities and communities here in Peel, the GTA and on a national and international level.

Canada has become a source country for stolen cars, which is among the top three revenue generators for organized crime and is used to support other criminal enterprises like illegal firearms, human trafficking and drug trafficking, which find their way back to our communities and victimize them again.

Record numbers of people are waking up and walking out to their driveways to find that their vehicles have been stolen. In some cases, they've had that experience multiple times. Others are walking out to parking lots and seeing that their vehicles have been stolen. The reality is that they are more fortunate than people who are experiencing this by someone busting down their door in the middle of the night or taking their vehicle with the use of violence, oftentimes armed.

Over the course of the last two years in Peel Region alone, there were 185 carjackings. Home invasions are now increasing exponentially as well.

The solution to this problem extends well beyond enforcement, but I want to make it clear that we aren't absconding from our responsibilities. In Peel, we have more than doubled our commercial auto crimes team. We have one of the largest investigative auto theft teams in the country. We continue to work with our partners on a number of joint force operations and lead efforts toward creating multisectoral approaches to address this issue. This has resulted in an increased awareness from the community and changes, as we've heard, in the area of insurance. It has resulted in opportunities to advocate for our community at municipal, provincial and federal levels. We need to continue to coordinate this action among all of the relevant stakeholders.

Many of the recommendations you've heard today, which I've had an opportunity to listen to, begin to address and speak to the variety of opportunities we need to take advantage of. That being said, I want to be very specific about what I see as being the two most obvious and quickest solutions that I think will begin to address the problem we're experiencing.

The first is the ports. I have personally visited the ports and was surprised to learn that, despite the number of autos that are being exported out of our country, there were no officers or analysts exclusively assigned to intercepting the export of stolen cars from our country. We need to resource and equip our ports in a way that is commensurate with the pressure and issues we are experiencing.

The second thing I would like to address is a national strategy. This isn't a Peel issue. It's not a greater Toronto issue. This is a national auto theft issue that we are experiencing, and we need a national strategy to respond to it. I understand that Public Safety is developing an action plan. My hope is that it will formally elevate auto theft to a national priority and examine opportunities to legislate tougher sanctions and federal sanctions, which would enhance police abilities to pursue the organized crime groups that are responsible for this.

The reality is that auto theft is no longer just a property crime, but it's still legislated as though it were. It shouldn't be treated that way. Additionally, we need a review of relevant legislation, which would include things like the Customs Act, the Export and Import Permits Act and a variety of other federal legislation.

Again, I believe that a national auto crime strategy that enhances our ability to pursue the organized crime groups that are responsible for this at a national level is required.

Again, our police service appreciates the standing committee's consideration of our recommendations, and I would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you.

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