Justice

Question period touched on auto thefts and the justice system. Kyle Seeback of the Conservatives said Liberal laws have led to a surge in car thefts, citing a 52 percent increase in Peel region, and called for laws denying bail to repeat car thieves and sending them to jail. Sean Fraser of the Liberals replied that the government passed new car-theft laws in June, developed with police and supported by police associations, and said thefts have since dropped in Ontario and nationally. Seeback responded that the laws have not fixed the problem in Peel, and Fraser pointed to the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act and figures showing car thefts down nationally.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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2 statements

Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Liberal
“We passed new laws against car theft in June. We made them with police, and police groups support them. Since then, car thefts and home invasions have gone down in Ontario, even though the member opposite tries to stop our work.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, my colleague asked a direct question: When are we going to adopt laws to get tough on car thefts? The answer is June of this past year. We developed these laws not in isolation behind closed doors but by meeting with police. They have garnered the support of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Association of Ontario. Even the cops in his own community are supporting the bail measures that we put in place. After we put these laws in place, we are starting to see statistics of crime coming down, specifically including auto thefts and home invasions in his province. He tries to block progress every step of the way. With or without his help, we will build a stronger and safer Canada.

Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Liberal
“We worked with police across Canada to fix our justice system. These changes are working. Across the country, car thefts dropped by 16% in 2024 and another 16% in 2025.”
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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, one of the interesting experiences I had when we were putting together the measures that were included in the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act was meeting with police leadership in Peel. They set out a list of items that we could implement that would have the predictable result of bringing the crime rate down. We listened to the police in Peel. We listened to the police in Ontario. We listened to the police in every part of this country. We adopted the most comprehensive suite of reforms that this country has seen in criminal justice over the course of a generation. If the member wants to take a look at the numbers nationally, he will see that since 2023, the numbers came down 16% with respect to car thefts in 2024 and another 16% in 2025. He should at least know—

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