While shopping for bargains this past Boxing Day with her Mom, 15-year-old Jane Creba was shot dead after she was caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shootout on a Toronto street packed with pedestrians.  As Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair put it, everyone felt that this “could be their daughter or their sister”.

This week, 25 people were arrested in relation to Ms. Creba’s murder and the wounding of six other innocent bystanders.  Two 19-year-old men and a 17-year-old were charged with second-degree murder.  Five others were charged with manslaughter.  A semi-automatic 9mm Ruger handgun was seized during the arrests.

Again, in the words of Chief Blair, “this was an outrageous attack on public safety.”  While Ms. Creba’s death sadly served to highlight this incident more than other urban gun crimes, it was not an isolated event.  Shootings, firearms smuggling and illegal firearms are an epidemic in Canada’s major cities. 

Combating these types of firearms offences are where federal resources should be directed.  The long-gun registry did nothing to stop what happened to Jane Creba.  As my Conservative colleagues and I have been repeating for more than a decade …criminals and gang members do not register their firearms!

Fortunately, despite being in government for just over four months and despite being limited by minority status and opposition parties (Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois) that support the useless long-gun registry, the Conservative government has been able to start re-directing federal resources towards initiatives that will actually help Canadians take back their streets!

I outlined last month our plan to stop the harassment of law-abiding long-gun owners and the waste of tax dollars by transferring the firearms registry to the RCMP and waiving and reimbursing license renewal and upgrade fees.  Until we can introduce and pass legislation to actually change Canadian law, we have put in place a one-year amnesty to protect gun-owners from prosecution for possessing a non-restricted rifle or shotgun without a valid license or registration certificate.

However, our government also introduced Bill C-10, legislation to impose mandatory minimum penalties for firearms offences including:  possession of a loaded restricted or prohibited firearm, firearms trafficking, possession for the purposes of trafficking, making an automatic firearm, firearms smuggling, possession of firearms obtained by crime, possession of firearm contrary to a court order and new offences of robbery where a firearm is stolen and breaking and entering with intent to steal or stealing a firearm.

Beyond deterring youth and adults alike from committing these crimes by conveying their severity, these penalties will enact suitable punishment against some of the nation’s most dangerous criminals. 

Bill C-10 is targeted towards punishing gang members with guns, those who use restricted weapons to commit crimes and those who supply weapons illegally.  It is currently being reviewed by the Standing Committee on Justice and will be back before the House of Commons for further debate and a vote this fall. 

Finally, federal legislation that will actually make a difference in lowering gun-related crime.  And it doesn’t come with the billion dollar price tag attached to the Liberal’s long-gun registry!