[DIV id=headline] [H2]Ottawa promises street-racing crackdown[/H2]
[DIV id=author] [P class=byline]TERRY WEBER
[P class=source]Globe and Mail Update
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[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] The federal government will introduce new legislation this spring aimed at cracking down on street racing by making the practice a criminal offence and imposing minimum sentences for those convicted, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Mr. Harper made the announcement at RCMP headquarters in Vancouver. The proposal follows changes urged by the late B.C. MP Chuck Cadman, who had introduced a private member's bill designed to combat the problem.
"Street racing is not for the amusement of the youth," Mr. Harper told reporters, announcing the move. "It's a very dangerous activity, and too often it ends up with deaths."
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The planned legislation would create a new Criminal Code offence for street racing. Mr. Harper promised that offence would be accompanied by stiffer sentences.
Secondly, the legislation would introduce driving prohibitions for those convicted.
Mr. Cadman, who died in July after a battle with skin cancer, had been a long-time proponent of victims' rights and had drafted private-member's bills demanding stiffer penalties for both street racing and auto theft.
In recent months, a number of cases involving street racing have grabbed headlines across the country.
In January, a Toronto cab driver was killed when his vehicle was hit during an alleged street race by two teenagers.
Later the same month, four people were killed in Vancouver in another incident.
Speaking with reporters, Mr. Harper said mandatory sentences envision under the new legislation would involve "a series of escalating penalties that would involve combinations of imprisonment and driving prohibitions."
"You'll have to wait for the bill to get the details," he said. "But there will be some kind of mandatory penalties."
Ottawa has already promised mandatory sentences in other areas, notably for gun-related crimes, and has moved to end conditional sentences.
Asked Thursday if the Conservative government's move toward mandatory penalties suggests a lack of faith in Canada's judiciary, Mr. Harper said: "I think what we're trying to say is that serious offences require some consistency and require some minimum standard of penalty."
"There's still lots of flexibility left in the law after this and every one of these bills we're putting forward," he said.
"The maximums in most cases are far above the minimums that we're insisting upon."
Thursday's news conference came as Mr. Harper faces an escalating battle with the national media over the manner in which news conferences are held.
Asked about that issue, Mr. Harper called it "all inside-Ottawa stuff" and suggested it is of little importance to most Canadians.
"I don't think the public cares," Mr. Harper said. "So I think it's unfortunate, but that's something the press gallery is going to have to work out among itself."
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