Ottawa, ON – After eight years of Justin Trudeau, car theft is out of control. Since the Liberals formed government in 2015, the number of car thefts have surged, up 34% across Canada. And in our biggest cities, car theft has exploded. Toronto and Montreal have seen a rise of 300% and 100% respectively.
Under Justin Trudeau’s watch, Canada has become a candy store for car thieves. This was confirmed again yesterday when the Toronto Police Chief said 12,000 vehicles were stolen in the city in 2023 alone. That means one car is being stolen every forty minutes. And Canadians shouldn’t expect things to get better this year, with the number of carjackings increasing by 106% so far this year compared to the same period in 2023. The value of these cars is a combined $790 million.
Justin Trudeau’s car theft wave has made life even more expensive for drivers. The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has called the number of car thefts a “national crisis,” saying that insurers had to pay out a record $1.2 billion in 2022. These costs are passed directly on to Canadians, with the IBC reporting that these thefts are costing every driver in Ontario $130 extra a year.
Justin Trudeau created this problem by turning federal ports into parking lots for stolen vehicles. He also introduced reckless soft-on-crime policies like Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 that instantly allows career car thieves back onto our streets where they continue to spread chaos and disorder. This is clear in Toronto where an inspector at the Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force revealed that 25 car thieves had been released on bail.
Only Common Sense Conservatives have a plan to address Trudeau’s car theft chaos. We will keep criminals in jail and protect our ports by investing in new equipment and CBSA officers. It’s just common sense.