As the law currently stands, violent criminals are being released after serving only two-thirds of their sentence under the “Statutory Release” guidelines.
Our Conservative government is moving forward with legislation that will better protect Canadians from serious criminals.
Too many criminals have committed serious offenses while on Statutory Release. This is intolerable to our government and to all Canadians.
The new legislation will seriously restrict Statutory Release for criminals who have previously received a prison sentence of five years or more for a violent crime.
“It is unacceptable that Canadians fall prey to violent offenders who have benefitted from early release after repeatedly committing violent crimes,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “Our government is committed to protecting Canadian families by ensuring that statutory release provisions are used with greater discipline and that violent offenders are kept off the streets and out of our communities.”
This measure reflects our government’s ongoing commitment to making our streets and our society safer, while ensuring that the rights of victims are given precedence over the rights of criminals.
The legislation complements other tough-on-crime strategies introduced by our government, including tougher prison sentences for sexual offenses against children and for serious gun crimes, repealing the Faint Hope Clause and providing courts with the discretion to end sentence discounts for multiple murders.
Our Conservative government is proud of our record in dealing with crime. We know that law-abiding Canadian citizens are happy that we are working hard to make our communities safer. We will continue to put the rights of victims first.
