“Canada’s new justice minister to tackle perceived lack of safety from crime: ‘I think that empirically it’s unlikely’ Canada is becoming less safe, Virani told Reuters in an interview on Monday.” (Reuters, July 31, 2023)

Ottawa, ON — The Hon. Rob Moore, Conservative Shadow Minister for Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Raquel Dancho, Conservative Shadow Minister for Public Safety, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Québec Lieutenant, released the following statement regarding remarks made by Liberal Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Arif Virani, downplaying crime in our communities:

“Justin Trudeau’s catch-and-release policies have unleashed a crime wave across this country. Canadians don’t feel safe in their communities and on their streets. But Arif Virani, Trudeau’s new Justice Minister and Attorney General is telling Canadians this is all just in their heads, and that an increase in crime is ‘empirically unlikely.’

“He’s wrong. Here are the facts according to Statistics Canada, after eight years of Justin Trudeau:

• Violent crime has risen 39%.
• Gang-related homicides are up 108%.
• Violent gun crime has steadily increased every year, now up 101% since 2015.
• Murders are up 43%, the highest rate in 30 years, increasing 66% in Toronto, 55% in Vancouver, and 38% in Montreal.

“This crime wave is a direct result of Liberal policies. Random attacks on our transit systems, the 9 police officers murdered in the line of duty over a year, repeat violent offenders who terrorize our streets while they are out on bail, and the data reported by the government’s own statisticians are not imaginary.

“Trudeau’s new Justice Minister has revealed to Canadians that nothing will change under his watch, rather, Canadians can expect more catch and release policies with increased deadly crime rates as a result. Trudeau’s new Justice Minister needs to stop trying to distract and blame Canadians, and instead needs to take responsibility.

“Canada wasn’t like this before Trudeau, and it won’t be like this after he’s gone. We will end Trudeau’s catch and release policies and keep the small number of dangerous repeat violent offenders in our country where they belong – behind bars. We will fix the problem Trudeau started with his flawed bills like C-75 and C-5, that let dangerous repeat violent offenders out onto the streets and back into our communities. Only common sense Conservatives will bring home safe streets.”