More campaign promises to combat crime in Canada.
A day after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced a three-strike rule on offenders of serious crimes, Liberal leader Mark Carney revealed his proposals.
Carney says he will hire 1,000 more RCMP officers, establish a new training centre in Saskatoon and increase the pay for cadets in training.
He also proposes to add 1,000 new Canada Border Services Agency personnel while adding new scanners, drones and canine units to work at land crossings, ports and railyards.
Carney also plans to update Canada’s bail laws.
“We will make bail harder to get for those charged with stealing cars using violence, stealing cars for a criminal organization, home invasion, and for certain human trafficking and smuggling offences,” says Carney.
“At bail hearings linked to these crimes, we will reverse the burden of proof, meaning that the accused will have to prove that they do not represent a threat to public safety.”
Carney is also looking at strengthening Canada’s gun law while respecting hunters, sports shooters and Indigenous peoples.
“If elected, my government will automatically revoke gun licenses for individuals convicted of violence offences, including intimate partner violence. We will strengthen firearms licensing and the so-called yellow and red flag laws that keep weapons out of the hands of those who are a risk to themselves or others.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre announced plans on Thursday to make home purchases more affordable.
He says he will make regulatory changes that will reduce the costs of a home by as much as $100,000.
“I’ll do this by one, incentivizing municipalities to cut building taxes and two, by eliminating the federal sales tax on new homes.,” says Poilievre.
His proposal would require cities and towns to free up land for housing, reduce the time it takes to issue permits and cut development charges to build 15% more homes each year.
Poilievre says if municipalities miss their targets, federal funding will be withheld.
“We need a new government for a change that will axe taxes, cut red tape, remove bureaucracy to build homes you can actually afford and put homeowners first for a change,” says Poilievre.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh drew his attention to his opponents’ budget plans, zeroing in specifically on Carney.
Singh claims the Liberal leader wants to reduce operating budgets that amount to as much as $43 billion in cuts to essential services like health care.
“I think it’s the wrong thing to do right now, at a time when Canadians are worried we should be strengthening our health care system,” says Singh.
“We want to see less wait times, not longer. We want to see more Frontline healthcare workers, not less. We want a stronger health care system, not a weaker one.”
Singh is committing to protect essential services and finding cuts in other areas.
“We’re committing to increasing revenue. We’re committing to cutting costs associated with things that we think are wasteful, like using private consultants. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars that we don’t think should be spent giving money to highly profitable companies.”
The federal election takes place on April 28th.
