Member of Parliament for Provencher, Ted Falk, welcomes new government legislation to help protect youth from gangs.
Introduced in February 2012 by Parm Gill, Member of Parliament for Brampton-Springdale, the Criminal Organization Recruitment Act (Bill C-394) makes the act of gang recruitment a criminal offence under Canadian law.
Bill C-394 creates a new indictable Criminal Code offence to prohibit recruiting or encouraging a person to join a criminal organization. The new offence would be punishable by a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and carry a mandatory minimum penalty of six months if the person recruited is under the age of 18.
On June 16, 2014, Bill C-394 passed Third Reading in the Senate and is now awaiting Royal Assent.
“Our Conservative Government is committed to keeping our children safe from gang recruitment,” said MP Falk. “Thanks to this legislation, we will crack down on dangerous criminals and the organizations that support them.”
For more information on the Criminal Organization Recruitment Act, visit www.justice.gc.ca.
