GOVERNMENT OF CANADA STEPS UP FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME

OTTAWA, April 5, 2001 – The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Solicitor General of Canada, today announced aggressive new measures and new funding to fight organized crime.

"I am pleased to present Canadians with legislation that will fight organized crime in our communities and in our courtrooms. We have said it before and we will say it again – the Government of Canada will attack organized crime on all fronts," said Minister McLellan. "With the passage of this bill, we will have even more effective laws and aggressive prosecution strategies to target organized crime at all levels."

Today's announcement fulfils the Government's Speech from the Throne commitment, reflects the work of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Organized Crime and responds to a number of issues raised at the last meeting of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Justice in September 2000.

"Combatting organized crime is the number one law enforcement priority on Canada's public safety agenda," said Solicitor General MacAulay. "This bill will give police the tools they have asked for to bolster their ability to infiltrate, destabilize and dismantle criminal organizations and build on the success of our partnerships across the country and internationally."

Proposed amendments to the Criminal Code will:

• introduce three new offences and tough sentences that target various degrees of involvement with criminal organizations;
• improve the protection of people who play a role in the justice system from intimidation against them or their families;
• simplify the current definition of "criminal organization" in the Criminal Code;
• broaden powers of law enforcement to forfeit the proceeds of crime and, in particular, the profits of criminal organizations and to seize property that was used in a crime; and
• establish an accountable process to protect law enforcement officers from criminal liability when they commit certain acts that would otherwise be considered illegal while investigating and infiltrating criminal organizations.

The Government will also inject an additional $200 million over the next five years to implement legislation and related prosecution and law enforcement strategies to fight organized crime. This funding will build on the $584 million that the RCMP received in the 2000 budget for organized crime enforcement, improved National Police Services and new communications systems.

The Government of Canada will also mount a new Intensive Federal Prosecution Strategy against Organized Crime that will ensure increased co-ordination between investigators and prosecutors and more effective investigations and prosecutions. This strategy recognizes the increasingly complex legal environment in which investigations of criminal organizations take place. These prosecutions are often characterized by large numbers of accused, voluminous evidence and challenging legal issues.

Today's announcement reinforces the progress the Government of Canada has made in recent years in taking action against organized crime. In the last four years alone, the government has introduced no less than eight pieces of legislation and a series of other measures that have strengthened the ability of law enforcement authorities to go after criminal organizations and enhanced our ability to protect our borders.

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Ref.:

Office of the Minister of Justice
Farah Mohamed
Director of Communications
Minister's Office
(613) 992-4621

Department of Justice
Joan Howe
Communications Branch
(613) 957-4205

Office of the Solicitor General
Dan Brien
Director of Communications
Minister's Office
(613) 991-2924

RCMP Media Relations
(613) 993-2999

The bill will be available online at: http://www.parl.gc.ca