Province Calls On Federal Government To Bring Laws Into 21st Century

RICHMOND HILL — Premier Dalton McGuinty today announced his government is taking more steps to protect Ontario families by cracking down on high-risk offenders, and the Premier called on the federal government to do its part.

"Ontario is moving forward to build safer communities by protecting our kids and our families from dangerous and long-term offenders," said Premier McGuinty.  "It\'s time for the federal government to do its part by bringing high-risk offender laws into the 21st century."

The McGuinty government is helping to protect Ontario families by:

• Creating six specialized regional teams to enhance the prosecution and management of dangerous and long-term offenders
• Stepping up efforts to monitor repeat offenders in the community upon completion of their sentences and notifying victims of their release
• Convening a roundtable of experts to consult on the best ways to manage high-risk offenders, and
• Calling on the federal government to conduct a full-scale review of all of its high-risk offender legislation.

The McGuinty government will invest $21.5 million over five years in these new high-risk offender initiatives.

A total of 21 staff will be assigned to the High-Risk Offender Prosecution Teams, including eight prosecutors, as well as victim service workers, case presentation specialists and support staff.

Six new Ontario Provincial Police officers will be assigned to monitor high-risk offenders after they are released from custody and nine new officers will gather intelligence inside correctional institutions.

"We look forward to working with the federal government to strengthen Canada\'s high-risk offender laws," said Attorney General Michael Bryant.

"These initiatives will help ensure our justice partners have the tools they need to police and prosecute high-risk offenders and help keep our communities safe," said Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Monte Kwinter.

Getting tough on high-risk offenders is part of the government\'s plan to build strong, safe communities for families.  Other measures include:

• Introducing a $68-million Guns and Gangs strategy, including a new operations centre and several justice initiatives to cut down on crime
• Investing $37 million annually in the Safer Communities — 1,000 Officers Partnership
• Program which put 1,000 new officers into our communities, including 30 dedicated to dangerous offenders Providing $28 million for 200 new OPP officers, including 53 dedicated to targeting illegal guns
• Cracking down on street racing and other aggressive and dangerous driving with the Safer Roads for a Safer Ontario Act, and
• Launching the $28.5-million Youth Opportunities Strategy to help young people, especially those in marginalized and stigmatized communities, achieve a brighter future.

"Working together with Ontarians, we\'ve made a lot of progress when it comes to building strong, safe communities," said Premier McGuinty.  "But we know there\'s more to do — so we\'re going to keep working with our justice partners, schools, parents and all levels of government to protect Ontario families."