Liberals contemplating harsher penalties as auto thefts increase

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his Liberal government wants to create harsher penalties for crimes relating to auto theft amid an epidemic of auto theft across the country.

He delivered the remark ahead of Thursday’s national convention on auto theft that’s being held in Ottawa.

“Cracking down on auto theft means bringing law enforcement, border services, port authorities, carmakers and insurance companies together,” Trudeau said.

The prime minister also suggested his government would create incentives that would entice car manufacturers to utilize better anti-theft deterrents in their products.

Alongside the prime minister are industry leaders from the auto sector, police officers and other officials from all levels of government.

The summit comes in the wake of an increased focus on the issue of rising car theft across Canada.

According to the federal government, an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen in Canada each year — which ends up costing Canadian insurance policy-holders and taxpayers around $1 billion.

However according to a new report released this week, by the Équité Association, a not for profit which tracts insurance fraud and crime, a vehicle is stolen every five minutes in Canada.

Over the last three years, the association says the number of stolen vehicles has risen by more than 50 per cent across the province of Ontario.

Many of the cars that are stolen are whisked away into shipping containers before being sent to some of the farthest corners of the planet.

READ MORE: $200K worth of stolen vehicles recovered in Dubai: Halton police

Krista-Lee Ernst from Hamilton Police services says “on average four autos get stolen within our community within a 24 hour period, that is unacceptable.”

It is a surge in auto theft in Hamilton and across Ontario.

Driven by tech-savy criminals, motivated by high profit margins, and low risk high reward opportunities.

Terri O’Brien, president and CEO of Équité Association, says “in 2023 we know that over 105,000 motor vehicles were stolen in Canada, with Ontario and Quebec trending higher than the rest of the country.”

At an auto summit on Thursday O’Brien laid out the problem, saying “Criminals are now taking advantage of these outdated standards…gaining access to a locked vehicle in under 60 seconds.”

The Canadian Automobile Association agrees, saying the feds must update the standards to force manufacturers to make cars more theft-proof.

But automakers say any steps they have taken to improve security features have eventually been countered by criminals.

The Prime Minister says tougher laws are on the table.

Meanwhile, vehicles from the greater Toronto and Hamilton area often end up on shipping containers destined for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

READ MORE: 11 charged in alleged car theft ring operating in GTA, southwest Ontario, police say

Canada Border Services Agency wouldn’t say what percentage of containers leaving Canada are inspected, but did provide data indicating more and more stolen cars are being found leaving the country.

To help, the government announced at the summit they are giving the CBSA 28-million dollars to conduct more investigations.

Hamilton police were also recently given extra money to fight auto theft $900-thousand from the province over three years.

Ernst from Hamilton Police says “what that looks like for Hamilton police service is two additional investigators as well as an analyst.”

The latest numbers show solving auto theft crime is difficult:

Between 2022 and 2019 less than 10 per cent of cases were cleared by Hamilton Police.

And the same trend is being seen in Niagara, where about ten per cent of cases have been cleared in recent years.

Ernst says “the level of sophistication in this type of crime is increasing and that’s provincially.”

Communities in Halton have seen the steepest rise in auto theft in the region as well.

The latest figures from Halton Police show the number of thefts have skyrocketed from 547 in 2020 to more than 1,300 in 2022.

After Thursday’s summit in Ottawa, the feds say they will take further steps to address the problem, including banning devices that criminals use to copy the wireless signals of a vehicle’s remote keyless entry – a key tool being used to gain entry to some of the most targeted vehicles.