Backgrounder: BC Safe and Secure - Criminals behind bars, not in our communities

BACKGROUNDER

BC Safe and Secure: Criminals behind bars, not in our communities

Everyone has the right to be safe at home, on the job, and in public spaces. Public safety should be priority #1 of any government, and the NDP have failed.

BC used to be a place where people felt safe leaving their doors unlocked. Today, the NDP's soft-on-crime policies allow criminals to roam free in search of law-abiding citizens to attack. Service workers fear for their safety on the job, horrifying stranger assaults have been normalized, and public trust in the justice system is shattered.

Restoring public safety starts with holding David Eby and the NDP accountable for the pain, fear, and broken trust their policies have caused. Radical anti-police activism has been a theme throughout Eby’s entire career – it’s no surprise he has made BC less safe as Attorney General and now Premier.

Enough is enough. The Conservative Party of BC will restore law and order by reversing the reckless David Eby policies that have put criminals first and British Columbians last. 

The Conservative Party of BC is committed to restoring public safety and rebuilding confidence in our justice system – a justice system that will once again be made to serve the rights of law-abiding citizens and victims of crime.

Here’s how we will do it:

Ending Eby’s “Catch-and-Release” Disaster

Violent criminals are walking the streets instead of serving real jail time. The NDP’s “catch-and-release” approach to justice has turned neighborhoods into danger zones. We’ve seen it over and over again, with tragic results: failure to punish bail violations puts the public at risk and undermines confidence in the administration of justice. 

At the same time, our courts need to be equipped with the Judges and Sheriffs needed for the swift administration of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied – for everyone. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Crack-down on bail offenders by toughening the Charge Assessment Guidelines. Under the NDP, no-charge Assessments increased by 75%.
• Hire more Sheriffs and Judges to clear the massive court backlog.
• Fight for mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenders to put them behind bars where they belong.
• Create a new statutory court to hold trials for small criminal offences within 1 week of arrest, instead of 12-18 months at present. The right to choice of counsel will be upheld.

Justice Must Be Seen – Real Accountability

The NDP has eroded public trust in the justice system. Too many trials are functionally hidden from public view due to the need to visit a courthouse in-person to see proceedings and recordings. The system needs to be updated for the 21st century.

Transparency and accountability are key to restoring trust in the system. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Make audio recordings of all eligible court proceedings available online.

Safe Streets for Every British Columbian

Every British Columbian should feel safe in their community. If elected, we will do everything at our disposal to make sure police departments have the front-line officers and resources they need to keep British Columbians safe.

The NDP’s disastrous social experiments have failed the vulnerable people they claim to help, while also causing chaos in our communities. And too often, properties owned or funded by the government have been part of the problem, not the solution. To bring safety back to our streets, the Conservative Party of BC will:

• Defend our police who risk their lives to keep us safe. We will have their backs.
• Hire more front-line officers in provincially-funded forces.
• Expand our capacity to train new police officers.
• End drug decriminalization and reject the dangerous Eby-Trudeau legalization experiment.
• Enforce mandatory mental health treatment for those who pose a danger to themselves and others.
• Remove dangerous tent cities that have plagued communicates across BC, by moving occupants to the appropriate support services and by having zero tolerance for tent cities on provincially-owned properties.
• Have zero tolerance for criminal and nuisance behavior related to government-funded housing facilities – social housing facilities will either be good neighbours, or have their funding revoked.

Crushing Organized Crime and Drug Networks

BC is being flooded with deadly drugs like fentanyl, destroying lives and families. British Columbians expect their government to launch an all-out assault on drug smuggling and organized crime, targeting those who profit from poisoning our streets. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Do everything in its power to crack-down on criminals who import and distribute deadly drugs like fentanyl.
• Work with the federal government to improve border integrity in both land and maritime environments.
• Secure our ports by working with the Port and all 3 levels of government to reinstate full and reliable funding for the RCMP-led Waterfront Joint Forces Operations, and expand the number of officers on the team.
• Fight for BC’s fair share of federal resources to combat the organized crime networks causing so much devastation in our communities.
• Get deadly fentanyl off our streets by using every possible regulatory tool to crack-down on fentanyl precursor materials.

Breaking the Cycle of Crime

Rehabilitation and enforcement go hand-in-hand. A life diverted from crime and addiction is often a life saved. BC’s Conservatives believe in giving individuals every opportunity to get their lives back on track, whether from crime, addiction, mental illness or trauma. 

It’s the right thing to do, and all of society benefits when the path to a healthy life is taken. Our hope is to create a province so prosperous that far fewer British Columbians find themselves in these difficult circumstances to begin with. But for those who want or need the help, we’ll always make sure it’s available. The Conservative Party of BC will:

• Expand access to addiction and mental health supports for individuals in the justice and correctional systems.
• Enact world-leading rehabilitation practices to encourage exit from gang life.
• Support community policing which is foundational to trust-building local law enforcement.
• Create a provincial school liaison officer program, with anti-gang and at-risk student programming.

The NDP has failed to protect British Columbians. It’s time for bold leadership that will bring safety back to our communities. The BC Conservatives will put the rights of law-abiding citizens first and make BC safe again.