https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justice-minister-car-stolen-third-time-1.7109562
Justice minister's government car stolen for the third time in as many years
News comes as Ottawa convenes a national summit to discuss how to crack down on auto thefts
Politicians and law enforcement officials are confronting a rising number of auto thefts — and it appears that the office of Canada's justice minister is also a popular target for thieves.
Justice Minister Arif Virani's government-owned Toyota Highlander XLE was stolen last November but was later recovered, according to documents tabled in the House of Commons last week.
It's the same car that was stolen and recovered last February when David Lametti was justice minister. Another 2019 Toyota Highlander was stolen during Lametti's tenure in February of 2021 — making this latest incident the third time a federal justice minister's car has been stolen in the past three years.
Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, left, looks on as Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani responds to a question during a news conference at the National Summit on Combatting Auto Theft in Ottawa on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Government-owned vehicles assigned to other federal officials have also been stolen in recent years.
A 2022 Toyota Highlander assigned to Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan was taken last February when he was still the minister of international development. It was later recovered.
Canada Revenue Agency Commissioner Bob Hamilton's 2019 Highlander was stolen in 2022. It still hasn't been found.
Federal ministers met with law enforcement, border officials and industry players Thursday for a national summit to address a rising wave of auto thefts.
"It's unprecedented," RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said during the daylong meeting.
"And the extreme violence that's associated to that and what we're seeing, it's something that was never seen before."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the gathering that the rise in thefts over the past few years "has been alarming." He hinted at tougher penalties.
"Organized crime is becoming more brazen, and the overseas market for the stolen cars is expanding," he said.
When asked what tougher penalties might look like, Virani said Ottawa already has strong measures to address auto left.
"Right now you have provisions that are set out in the [Criminal] Code that deal with the offences of theft and you have offences that deal with organized criminality. It's sort of bridging the two. It's looking at the specific focus of carjacking, which is unfortunately a new phenomenon here in Canada, but it is something that we need to address," he said.
"It takes an individual to steal the car but it takes a complete criminal operation to get it out of the country for sales in parts of Africa or the Middle East. When we look at organized criminality, we have to look at those chains and how to disrupt them."
When asked about his car being stolen in November, Virani's office declined to comment.
The federal government says an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen annually in Canada, resulting in about $1 billion in costs to Canadian insurance policy-holders and taxpayers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Kate McKenna and Catharine Tunney
Automatic Reply
Ministerial Correspondence Unit - Justice Canada<mcu@justice.gc.ca> | Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 1:04 AM | ||||||||||||
| To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | |||||||||||||
Thank you for writing to the Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Due to the volume of correspondence addressed to the Minister, please note that there may be a delay in processing your email. Rest assured that your message will be carefully reviewed. We do not respond to correspondence that contains offensive language. ------------------- Merci d'avoir écrit à l'honorable Arif Virani, ministre de la Justice et procureur général du Canada.
Nous ne répondons pas à la correspondance contenant un langage offensant.
Re: Request for Representations "Tabling a motion for information is just like asking a pig to fly," Coon said.
Province's right-to-information act among Canada's weakest, Ombud saysWatchdog tells committee of MLAs that restrictions on releasing government records are ‘baked in’ to the lawNew Brunswick's ombud says she agrees with a national survey that ranks the province's right-to-information act among the weakest in the country. Marie-France Pelletier told a committee of MLAs on Thursday that she plans to make recommendations to the government on how the act can be improved to ensure the public has more access to information. Provisions of the act are "unique to New Brunswick or are restrictive compared to what may exist in other jurisdictions," she said, and that creates a barrier to disclosure. "If that's baked in to your legislation — that more information is going to be protected from disclosure — then that obviously drives the amount of disclosure that's going to be provided to applicants," she said. Pelletier was responding to questions from Green Party Leader David Coon about a recent national survey by the Globe and Mail newspaper. It found that in 2021, New Brunswick had the second-longest response time in the country at 72 days, despite a 30-day requirement in the act. Only five per cent of requests were fulfilled without redactions, compared to a national average of 21 per cent. Among the restrictive provisions, Pelletier said, is one that exempts the release of information "pertaining to legal affairs that relate to the performance of the duties and functions of the Office of the Attorney General."
That broad exemption is unique to New Brunswick, she told the committee, and is broader than necessary. Other provincial acts only exempt information covered by solicitor-client privilege — the providing of legal services by the attorney general to the rest of the government. "It's unclear to me … why it was needed," she said of New Brunswick's broader provision, which recently obligated her to rule against recommending the release of information to someone who filed a complaint to her office. "Because that is in the act, I had to find otherwise," she said. Unlike some other provinces, the New Brunswick Ombud has no order-making power under the act and can only make recommendations. The law also has no public-interest override that would let people argue for releasing exempt information because of its importance. Province 'strict' about cabinet documentsThe province also has "one of the strictest" restrictions on releasing cabinet documents, preventing a government from waiving the exemption even if it wanted to do, Pelletier said. Previous amendments to the act gave the government 30 business days to respond to a request for information, as well as the power to grant itself an extension of 30 more business days, after which it can then apply to Pelletier's office for further extensions. "If those changes were made with the notion that you would get more complete responses as a result, that might be a good tradeoff," Pelletier said. "But the other part of the review by the Globe and Mail shows that that's not quite the case either. So we may not be in the best situation." 'Like asking a pig to fly'Coon agreed with the ombud's criticisms, saying as a longtime user of the act, he has found it increasingly difficult to obtain information. The ability of MLAs to get documents tabled in the legislature on request has also been curtailed, he said. "Tabling a motion for information is just like asking a pig to fly," Coon said. "Forget it. It's not going to happen." A recent provincial review suggested changes to the act, including some that could further restrict access, including narrowing the definition of "record" to cover only existing physical documents, not databases. Pelletier said when the government is closer to introducing amendments to the act in the legislature, she will release "some sort of guidance document or observations around what could be some of the improvements" to the act. She also said she's willing to use her legal authority to go to court to try to win access "on certain files," but she only wants to use that power "in the right situation." ABOUT THE AUTHOR
On 2/9/24, David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail. > From: Stephen Konkle <Stephen.Konkle@oic-ci.gc.ca> > Sent: February 8, 2024 1:33 PM > To: Dana-lee Melfi <dana_lee_ca@hotmail.com> > Subject: Request for Representations (Office of the Information > Commissioner complaint #5822-03179 / A-2021-00580) > > > Hello Dana-Lee, > > > > As previously noted in separate communication, as a result of your > previous correspondence with me, and further review by the OIC > Registry, additional allegations have been validated for this > complaint. > > > > The complaint now alleges that: > > > > * Justice took an invalid extension of time and eventually > withdrew it. This allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a). > > > > * Justice improperly placed the access request on hold. This > allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(f). > > > > * Justice communicated by phone, despite requesting communication > in writing. This allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(f). > > > > * Justice did not meet its responsibilities under subsection > 4(2.1) to make every reasonable effort to assist the requester with > the above-noted access request(s). This allegation falls under > paragraph 30(1)(f). > > > > * Justice did not respond to the above-noted access request(s) > within the 30-day or extended period, as required by section 7. This > allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a). > > > > In order to advance the investigation of this complaint, I am now > requesting your initial representations regarding each of these > allegations. Please provide these representations to me by Friday, > February 16, 2024. If you require an extension to provide your > representations, please let me know. Similarly, if you have any > questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by > phone or by email. > > > > Thank you, > > > > Stephen (Steve) Konkle > > Enquêteur | Cas prioritaires, Documents historiques et Renseignement > > Commissariat à l’information du Canada > > Stephen.Konkle@ci-oic.gc.ca< > : 819-790-8768 > > > > Investigator | Priority Cases, Historical and Intelligence > > Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada > > Stephen.Konkle@ci-oic.gc.ca< > 819-790-8768 >
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Despite
the province's right-to-information act, Green Party Leader David Coon
says he finds it increasingly difficult to get information. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
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