Late last week the NDP government unanimously supported a motion by Progressive Conservative Justice critic, Kelvin Goertzen, that will require the Department of Justice to report to police all probation breaches of high risk offenders. It is believed to be the first opposition motion in Manitoba Legislature history to be passed.
“I was surprised that the NDP government supported the motion because they stated the policy was unworkable and unsupportable in April,” said Goertzen. “I am glad that they saw the light on this issue and have come around to our way of thinking which I believe will add to the safety of all Manitobans.”
The issue of probation breaches came to light in April of this year when it was discovered that a high risk car thief who was involved in a crash with a stolen vehicle that killed a Winnipeg taxi-cab driver had breached his probation more than 20 times at the time of the fatal collision. None of the probation breaches had been reported to police.
The motion will now require all probation breaches for high risk offenders to be reported to police and require the Department of Justice to report on a quarterly basis the number of probation breaches in Manitoba.
In April, NDP Attorney General Andrew Swan indicated he would not support the policy and said it was unworkable.
“I’m not sure what caused the NDP government to flip-flop on this issue, but I am glad they did and I will continue to press for more changes to make Manitoba a safer place and to ensure there are fewer people who become victims of crime,” said Goertzen.
