C-393 receives first hour of Second Reading debate

April 11, 2008

Ottawa – Gord Brown. Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville today spoke in the House of Commons during Second Reading debate on his Private Member’s Bill, C-393.

The Bill is designed to help prevent further violent knife crimes, to re-enforce the stated intent of the existing law and to continue the ongoing progress Parliament has made in treating crime victims.

“Knife crimes have become more prevalent in Canada and in fact have overtaken gun crimes in many instances,” says Brown. “The law has not kept pace.”

The Bill proposes mandatory minimum sentences for knife crimes that would match the current mandatory minimums for gun crimes.

It addresses the credit that judges give to criminals for time served waiting for their trials. At sentencing judges often reduce sentences by more than the amount already served.

“Sometimes this has amounted to as much as three-for-one, time,” says Brown. “In other words, it pays for criminals to spend time in pre-trial custody.”

Finally, the Bill seeks to further enhance victims’ rights, especially in parole hearings.

The Bill was inspired by the December 1998 knife murder of Brockville native Andy Moffitt.

Brown introduced the Bill during his first term and then took the unusual step of asking that it receive the same number, 393, in its second term introduction.

“The Bill has become well-known across Canada and indeed as far away as Australia and England as C-393 – the Knife Bill,” explains Brown.

The Bill will now be put on the list to return for second hour debate in the near future.