91. Justice Principles
The Conservative Party supports reorienting the approach to criminal justice and the policing system to give the highest priority to the protection of society through the prevention of crime.
Additionally, we support emphasizing the needs and rights of victims.
We support our Canadian justice system as defined by our Charter and Constitution and does not support a parallel justice system which would contravene our existing rights and freedoms.
We believe that those convicted of more than one serious crime should serve their sentences consecutively rather than concurrently.
92. Dangerous Offenders
The Conservative Party believes the government has an obligation to strengthen Canadians’ confidence in our legal system’s ability to judge dangerous offenders appropriately so that dangerous offenders will not be released until they are no longer a threat to society.
Anyone convicted of two offences causing death or serious harm against a person, arising from separate occurrences, should be automatically designated as a dangerous offender and should bear the onus of proving that they are not a danger to society. This would not preclude the Crown from pursuing dangerous offender status for any other offender deemed to fit the criteria.
We believe that the government should seek Dangerous Offender Status (and mandatory life sentences) for any person convicted of a second serious violent offence, criminal organization offence, terrorism offence or serious drug trafficking offence.
93. Sex Offender Registry
The Conservative Party supports the registration of all convicted sex and designated dangerous offenders. Such registration should be retroactive to the date of first conviction.
The registry and its services should provide:
i. mandatory DNA sampling and banking;
ii. a registry information network, available to all police and parole services to assist in locating (and tracking) registrants; and
iii. a system to incarcerate registrants who break the terms of release prior to trial.
94. Protecting Pregnant Women
The Conservative Party supports legislation to ensure that individuals who commit violence against a pregnant woman would face additional charges if her unborn child was killed or injured during the commission of a crime against the mother.
95. Sentencing
The Conservative Party supports:
i. mandatory minimum sentences for violent and repeat offenders and for those convicted of sexually assaulting a minor;
ii. requiring that sentences for multiple convictions be served consecutively;
iii. eliminating statutory (automatic) release;
iv. ensuring that the community and victims have input on National Parole Board decisions;
v. requiring applicants for parole to demonstrate to the National Parole Board that they have been rehabilitated;
vi. no longer requiring judges to treat imprisonment as a last resort; and
vii. repealing the "Faint Hope Clause", thus removing the possibility of parole before 25 years for those sentenced to life in prison.
96. Firearms
A Conservative Government is committed to cost-effective gun control programs designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while respecting the rights of law-abiding Canadians to own and use firearms responsibly.
Measures will include: mandatory minimum sentences for the criminal use of firearms; strict monitoring of high-risk individuals; increased enforcement and prosecution of smuggling; safe storage provisions; firearms safety training; a certification screening system for all those wishing to acquire firearms legally; and putting more law enforcement officers on our streets.
We recognize the legitimacy of private ownership of firearms and will resist any domestic or international pressure to the contrary.
97. Organized Crime
The Conservative Party recognizes that organized crime is growing throughout Canada, that international criminal organizations are more and more active in Canada in money laundering and illicit drug trafficking and that this phenomenon crosses boundaries.
To fight against this curse and ensure the safety of Canadians in their communities, we encourage the government to:
i. adopt, in collaboration with the provinces, a national strategy on the fight against organized crime, including the creation of a joint national task force on security;
ii. increase the financial resources allocated to the RCMP to help them to fight against those activities in all regions of the country;
iii. propose an amendment to the Criminal Code to reverse the burden of proof, so that members of a criminal organization (and not the Crown) will have to prove at the time of seizure that the goods were not acquired through criminal acts committed for organized crime. Specific criteria will govern this measure to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence of the accused; and
iv. strengthen the legislation to prosecute any person who knowingly engages in counterfeit activities by manufacturing, reproducing, and distributing, importing, or selling counterfeit goods.
We believe the government, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, should develop prevention strategies in the fight against street gangs.
98. Young Offenders
The Conservative Party supports introducing measures to hold young lawbreakers accountable to their victims and the larger community. We believe the government should introduce measures to ensure that violent or serious repeat offenders 14 and over are tried as adults.
We encourage the government to work with the provinces and territories to ensure that the early identification and intervention strategies for youth at risk continue to work. The justice system for young people will provide effective punishment that deters criminal behaviour and instils a sense of responsibility in young offenders for their behaviour; and gives young people better opportunities for rehabilitation.
99. Family Violence
The Conservative Party believes the consequences of family violence are harmful to all of society. We support sentences for crimes of family violence that reflect our belief in the serious nature of violent criminal activity, its effect on individuals, on families and on communities. The protection of children in family violence situations is paramount.
100. Child Protection
The Conservative Party supports the protection of children through the elimination of all defences that are used to justify the possession of child pornography.
We will oppose any effort to lower the age of protection below 16 years of age.
We believe that government should fight the cyber-stalking of children by allocating more resources for Internet monitoring, by increasing the penalty for cyber-stalkers, and by taking measures to raise awareness among all Canadians (particularly young Canadians) about the importance of protecting your privacy online.
101. Missing Persons Registry
The Conservative Party supports the creation of a national missing persons registry to assist in the location and identification of persons reported missing. The registry would operate in conjunction with the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) and DNA databanks currently in place.
We support streamlining and improving the existing computer systems, including DNA databanks, CPIC and the sex offender registry.
We believe the government should fight human trafficking by providing the RCMP with the personnel and resources needed to effectively combat this problem, and by instituting tougher sentences for all those involved in this form of human exploitation.
102. Sexual Exploitation in Canada
The Conservative Party rejects the concept of legalizing the purchase of sex.
We declare that human beings are not objects to be enslaved, bought or sold.
We shall develop a Canada specific plan to target the purchasers of sex and human trafficking markets through criminalizing the purchase of sex as well as the acts of any third party attempting to profit from the purchase of sex.
103. Charter of Victim’s Rights
The Conservative Party shall undertake to:
i. promote the adoption of a Charter of Rights for victims of criminals acts, reuniting the whole of the current rights of victims contained within the federal legislative corpus ;
ii. add new rights to such a Charter ; and
iii. make this Charter legislation-based, notably, on the rights of victims to restitution, access to information, and representation and safety.