"The best way to fight gangs and organized crime is to disrupt the criminal enterprises they depend on," said Minister Nicholson. "That is why our Government is cracking down on auto theft." The proposed legislation would:

• create a separate offence of "theft of a motor vehicle", which would carry a mandatory prison sentence of 6 months for conviction of a third or subsequent indictable offence;
• establish a new offence for altering, destroying or removing a vehicle identification number (VIN).
• make it an offence to traffic in property obtained by crime; and
• make the possession of such property for the purpose of trafficking an offence.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates that auto theft costs more than $1 billion each year, taking into account health care, court, policing, legal and out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles.

The legislation would also provide for the application of customs powers to allow the Canada Border Services Agency to identify and prevent stolen property from leaving the country, thus providing a means to address the problem of the exportation of stolen vehicles from Canada by organized crime.

 For the full text of the press release, view the Department of Justice Canada website.

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