OTTAWA, APRIL 11, 2003 -- The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, tabled proposed legislation in the House of Commons today to strengthen the criminal law through a number of technical amendments and to create a new offence against setting deadly traps in places used to commit crimes.

"We have to protect emergency workers like fire fighters on the front line who may be exposed to dangerous situations like marijuana grow operations or clandestine drug labs," said Minister Cauchon. "The nature of these criminal activities creates a risk of fire, with volatile chemicals used in drug labs and electric power stolen through unsafe meter bypasses. If fire fighters or police officers are put at risk, injured or killed by traps set to defend these criminal enterprises from law enforcement or rival gangs, those who set the traps must feel the full weight of the law."

The bill will create a Criminal Code offence of setting a deadly trap in a place used for a criminal purpose. This amendment will better protect first responders, such as fire fighters and other emergency workers, whose lives could be threatened when entering such a place in the course of their duties. The proposed maximum sentence of ten years in prison increases to
14 years if injury occurs and to a life sentence if someone is killed by a trap.

"The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has been seeking amendments to the Criminal Code that would protect on-duty fire fighters from criminal acts. We are pleased to see the Government of Canada taking action," said Harold Schaitberger, IAFF General President.

The Bill also includes:

• clarification in the Criminal Code of the authority to use reasonable force to prevent criminal activity onboard an aircraft in flight that could endanger the aircraft or any person or property on board. This amendment brings Canada's laws into line with international law;
  
  
• technical amendments to the firearms search and seizure warrant provisions of the Criminal Code applicable to firearms, ammunitions and explosives, to ensure that the wording used complies with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in accordance with a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, R. v. Hurrell; and
  
  
• an amendment to the Criminal Code to allow the civil enforcement of all restitution orders to make it easier for people to collect restitution money that was ordered to be paid to them following an offender's conviction;
  
  
• amendments to allow information technology managers in the public and private sectors to use practices, such as intrusion detection systems (IDS) technology, to protect their computer systems from electronic communications, such as viruses, that could harm them.

Finally, the bill includes technical amendments to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the Security of Information Act, the Canada Evidence Act and the Criminal Code.

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