Arif Virani, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, has been taking a soft-on-crime approach since his appointment in 2023. However, among rising crime rates throughout the country, the Justice Minister’s car was stolen a few months ago for the third time in three years.
Since Justin Trudeau’s appointment as Prime Minister in 2015, the Liberal Party has overseen a move to grant more leniency to criminals, lowering mandatory sentencing and trying to release more criminals rather than keep them imprisoned. This liberal approach is in sharp contrast with the earlier Conservative Party’s tough-on-crime approach to crime. Unfortunately, this approach has led to a surge in crime throughout Canada, spurred by rapidly released criminals and lower punishments for crime.
Among this surge in crime, documents tabled in the House of Commons said that the Justice Minister’s government-owned vehicle was stolen a few months ago. The Toyota Highlander XLE was stolen in November 2023 and was later recovered. The same vehicle was stolen in February 2023, and a different Toyota Highlander belonging to the Justice Minister was stolen in February 2021.
Many Conservative Party leaders mocked the irony of the government vehicle thefts. There have been several recent cases where car thieves were arrested, released, and then immediately tried to steal another car.
Oh the irony. pic.twitter.com/TgdvI4tWiK
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 10, 2024
These car thefts have come even as the Liberal Party tries to convince Canadians that crime is not on the rise. However, organized criminal organizations have contributed to massive rises in auto thefts throughout Canada. Some cities and regions have seen 200% or even 300% increases in vehicle theft rates over the last several years.
Many of these vehicles are stolen to be shipped overseas to Africa or the Middle East or are parted out to sell the parts overseas. Insurance companies have been raising rates on Canadian citizens, and people are becoming increasingly frustrated with the higher costs because of these thefts.
The Canadian government announced this week that they would be committing $28 million to help combat the rise in stolen vehicles. Much of the money is intended to hire government agents to inspect shipping containers, where many vehicles are stored before getting shipped overseas. According to some estimates, almost 90,000 Canadian vehicles are stolen every year, costing the country almost $1 billion in insurance costs.
