A Poilievre government will bring home stolen cars by securing our federal ports
Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of Canada’s Common Sense Conservatives, announced part two of his plan today to combat the significant rise in car theft.
The Problem:
After 8 years of Justin Trudeau, car thefts are up 300% in Toronto and 100% in Ottawa and Montreal. Nationally, car thefts are up by more than a third since his Liberal government took office. Canadian cars are being stolen at historically high rates, many of which are being shipped overseas.
This rise in car theft has made Canadians less safe. At a time when many are struggling as a result of Justin Trudeau’s reckless debt and costly carbon tax, car theft is adding another burden on our people. In 2022, car insurance payouts totalled more than $1 billion. In Ontario, car theft claims were up 329% in the first half of 2023, adding up to more than $700 million in losses. The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates this costs every driver in Ontario an extra $130 a year.
Car theft has become a “get-rich-quick” scheme for violent criminals and gangs, and hard-working Canadians are paying the price.
The Cause:
Justin Trudeau’s mismanagement of our federal ports has turned them into parking lots for stolen cars that then disappear overseas.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is in charge of protecting our borders. But the federal Port of Montreal, where the majority of stolen cars leave Canada, only has five agents to inspect the massive volume of containers that leave each year, according to the Journal de Montreal. They also only have one X-ray scanner that constantly breaks down. Federal ports in Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Halifax tell a similar story.
According to Peel Detective Mark Haywood, the CBSA checks less than 1 percent of all containers leaving the country.
Has Justin Trudeau worked with CBSA to fix the problem? No. He’s done the exact opposite. Despite car thefts skyrocketing, CBSA is seizing about the same number of cars today at the federal port of Montreal as they were years ago, frequently ignoring suspicious containers, even after they’re reported.
Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau continues to waste CBSA’s money. Last year Justin Trudeau spent $15 million on useless management consultants at CBSA. And don’t forget he spent $54,000,000 on the ArriveCan app, which not only didn’t work properly, but is currently being investigated by the RCMP for corruption.
And CBSA failed to spend $117,000,000 that had already been approved by Parliament. This is yet another example of Liberal mismanagement and inability to deliver results on desperately needed reforms to ensure Canada’s criminal laws are enforced. No wonder our federal ports can’t keep up with increased volumes. Justin Trudeau is more concerned with enriching well-connected insiders than keeping you safe.
The Solution:
Canadians deserve a government that catches car theft. Yesterday, we announced part one of our common sense plan to stop car theft. Today we are announcing part two of our plan to fix the mess Trudeau has made at our federal ports. We will:
- Fire useless management consultants at CBSA and use this money to fix our federal ports.
- Invest in state-of-the-art x-ray equipment to allow for rapid scanning of containers at our four major federal ports in Vancouver, Montreal, Prince Rupert, and Halifax. We will purchase a total of 24 scanners.
- Hire a special team of CBSA officers who will run the scanners, and catch stolen cars before they leave our country. We will hire 75 CBSA officers to secure our federal ports.
Dollar Spent, Dollar Saved
A Poilievre government will find a dollar of savings for every new dollar of spending. We will pay for this innovative solution by firing useless management consultants at Public Safety. These consultants include GC Strategies, one of the many firms linked to the $54 million ArriveCan scandal. A new ombudsman report on the ArriveCan app itself found that 76% of the contractors did no work. Right now, Public Safety Canada spends $33 million a year on management consultants, which works out to $165 million over 5 years.
The total cost for the upfront acquisition of these scanners is $55.2 million. Ongoing scanner maintenance will cost $7.2 million annually, a 5-year cost of $36 million. The cost of hiring the 75 CBSA officers over 5 years will be $41.5 million. This means the total initial and ongoing 5-year costs will be $132.7 million.
By firing useless management consultants, we can pay for the much-needed x-ray scanners and the CBSA officers needed to operate them, and still end up with a net savings for taxpayers of $33 million.
Poilievre said:
“Common sense Conservatives will reverse Trudeau’s reckless policies that have turned our federal ports into parking lots for stolen cars. By making it much harder to ship cars overseas where they can be sold, this violent get-rich-quick scheme that gangs around the country have been taking advantage of will no longer be possible.”
“Justin Trudeau has failed to protect your property. I will bring home stolen cars. Let’s hit the brakes on car thieves and protect our federal ports.”