Tackling Violent Crime Act (Bill C-2) Receives Royal Assent

February 28, 2008

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today welcomed the Royal Assent of the Tackling Violent Crime Act (Bill C-2), which makes changes to Canada’s Criminal Code that will better protect Canadians against those who commit serious and violent crimes.

“Over the past two years, our Government has been working tirelessly to make these important changes to Canada’s criminal justice system. With the passage of the Tackling Violent Crime Act into law today, the days of soft, lenient penalties for dangerous criminals are over,” said Minister Nicholson.

“We are proud to have pushed for these changes, and today, families and communities in Niagara and across Canada can feel safer.”

The new law strengthens the Criminal Code in the following five areas:

• Tougher mandatory jail time for serious gun crimes;
• Better protection for youth from adult sexual predators by increasing the age of protection for sexual activity from 14 years to 16 years;
• More effective sentencing and monitoring to prevent dangerous, high-risk offenders from offending again;
• New bail provisions which require that those accused of serious gun crimes show why they shouldn’t be kept in jail while awaiting trial; and
• New ways to detect and investigate drug-impaired driving and stronger penalties for impaired driving.
  

The majority of these reforms will come into force within the next few months, giving the public, police, prosecutors, defence counsel and judges sufficient time to familiarize themselves with these important changes to Canada’s criminal law.
For an online version of the Tackling Violent Crime Act (Bill C-2), please visit www.parl.gc.ca.