Mr. Speaker, it is with great honour that I rise today in this House to speak in support of the “three strikes and you're out” bill, our plan to hold repeat violent offenders accountable and to combat rising crime in our streets. I am a proud Winnipegger and even prouder to represent my neighbours in the riding of Elmwood—Transcona.

Although I am proud of my home, the crime wave crippling our city has truly gone out of control. My office has been inundated with calls from folks from all different walks of life, all concerned that they no longer feel safe on the streets and even in their homes. At this point, it is hard to see anything any other way.

Over the last 10 years, we have become accustomed to a criminal justice system that puts criminals first and does not deliver justice. Our current system takes power away from law enforcement, puts perpetrators of crime back on the street and victimizes hard-working, law-abiding Canadians in our society. Jody, one of my constituents, has had her home broken into 14 times by the same group of thugs. While Jody lives in fear, her tormentors are getting released on no-cash bail within 24 hours of their crime, ready to reoffend and put Jody and her neighbours back into a state of shock, panic and fear.

It is not just Jody either. In my first month of office, I sent out a community survey asking folks in Elmwood—Transcona what they thought were the most pressing issues facing our community. While I got many good, thoughtful responses, one issue that is top of mind for a majority of people in my community is that crime is totally out of control. Parents no longer feel safe having their kids walk to school or take the bus. Our three-strikes plan would put repeat violent offenders behind bars and keep communities safe. We need to put our foot down and take crime seriously. We all believe in second chances, but we do not believe in 20 chances.

This would be hard enough on families that are struggling to make ends meet without also facing the rising rates of car theft. It has gotten so bad that some police are even suggesting that people leave their keys on the porch to avoid break-ins. This is crazy. This harmful mentality will only lead to more theft, more crime and more innocent victims.

Things were not always this way. Folks in our communities used to leave their doors unlocked and did not worry about their cars getting broken into. Today, my neighbours live in fear, and it breaks my heart that for the last 10 years, the Liberals could have done something to fix the out-of-control crime but decided to sit on their hands and pretend that nothing was wrong while their failed experiment continued to put Canadians at risk.

The law we are proposing would stop criminals convicted of three serious offences from getting bail, probation, parole or house arrest. It would keep violent criminals behind bars, away from their victims and off our streets. The law would also keep dangerous offenders away from society until they have proven that they no longer are a threat to those around them.

Police also feel the effects of poor criminal justice policies first-hand. Imagine how demoralizing it is to arrest the same person they arrested last week for robbing the same 7-Eleven they robbed the week before. We are not giving those in law enforcement the tools they need to get the job done.

Just last week, we met with Mayor Scott Gillingham, who shared his thoughts on the out-of-control crime that is plaguing Winnipeg streets. He mentioned that the same individual had been arrested twice by the Winnipeg Police Service's violent crimes unit. A person has to be pretty violent to be arrested by that unit. He was subsequently convicted of failing to comply with bail restrictions 12 times and was released enough times to be convicted of 24 more violent offences. These offences were not stealing a pack of gum from a convenience store. The offender in question was convicted of shooting and carjacking while already out on bail.

Last month alone, 178 offenders were wanted on warrants for violating bail and were arrested on new charges. Seven of them assaulted the very same people they victimized despite a court prohibiting them to do so. This is not just a threat to the victims, who often have multiple run-ins with repeat offenders; it is also a threat to first responders, social workers, health care workers and public transit operators.

The unfortunate truth is that this is not just a Winnipeg problem; this is a Canada-wide problem. Police associations across Canada have been speaking out on the lack of support that the federal government has given them in putting repeat violent offenders behind bars. We need to do our job here so that they can do their job out there—

Colin Reynolds

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