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Hearing that violent crime is up 50% is a distant statistic. Hearing that five men stormed into a suburban home at 4 a.m. to rob the place is the cold reality too many Canadians are facing.
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On Tuesday morning, that’s what happened in Grimsby, according the Niagara Regional Police Service.
“The initial investigation determined that five masked, unidentified males — armed with weapons —assaulted an adult male before forcing their way into the home,” a news release stated.
“The suspects searched the residence for valuables and fled the area westbound in a black SUV shortly before police arrived.”
It’s a scenario that is taking place far too often.
Robberies to steal cars, jewelry, and other valuables are becoming commonplace, the video doorbell images shared online showing the brazen thugs seemingly not caring about the possibility of spending time in jail.
A couple of weeks ago, screenshots of a community group chat were shared with me after a home invasion in Oakville. A man was assaulted and injured, his wife was assaulted, and their home was robbed after windows were smashed shortly after 1 a.m.
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It was just recently that a liberal friend of mine, complaining about crime, was describing the new door he and his wife were having installed after violent home invasions in their suburban Toronto neighbourhood.
In Toronto’s core on Tuesday evening, two men were shot and killed in a neighbourhood where homes list for more than $2 million. Reports claimed the two men were ambushed: One died on scene, the other later in hospital.
When it’s not home invasions, carjackings or shootings, it’s smash and grabs at jewelry stores, the video from across the country so often posted to social media in disbelief.
This isn’t just a Toronto-area issue, it’s across the country.
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In Vancouver, a 92 year-old man died after being assaulted by multiple people and left for dead in an alley. In another case, a man charged with setting a Vancouver Police Officer on fire was already wanted on 10 other charges.
You can go across the country and talk to voters, ask them about crime and hear their outrage. There is no doubt crime is up; it’s clear and backed up by Statistics Canada.
Violent crime is up by 50% since the Liberals took office. Gang murders are up by 78% since 2015. Auto thefts are up across the country, even more in the Toronto area which has been described as “a candy store” for car thieves by the New York Times.
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Amidst all of this, the Conservatives are the only ones talking seriously about cracking down on crime.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said that he will repeal Liberal laws such as Bill C-75 — legislation making bail the de facto position regardless of crime — and C-5, which scrapped mandatory minimums for serious gun crimes.
“We will lock up the worst violent offenders longer and make sure they are not released as long as they pose a danger to our society,” Poilievre said recently in Sault Ste. Marie. “Hug-a-thug, catch-and-release policies have destroyed our once-safe towns and cities.”
He’s even promised to bring back consecutive sentences for mass murderers after the Supreme Court struck down the law allowing that in 2022. Liberal Leader Mark Carney called Poilievre’s proposal dangerous.
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In his own crime policy, Carney hasn’t promised to crack down on the people shooting up our streets, he’s promising to crack down on licensed gun owners. The Liberal crime plan put dealing with a gun “buyback” program front and centre with measures on dealing with licensed gun owners following closely behind.
These aren’t the people causing the crime, but just like under Justin Trudeau, these are the people the Carney Liberals are concerned about — not actual criminals.
We need to turn from the soft-on-crime approach of the last 10 years, which statistics tell us have not worked.
Poilievre and the Conservatives are willing to take those steps; Carney and the Liberals are offering more of the same failed policies.
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