Author of the article:
The Canadian Press
VICTORIA — B.C. Premier John Horgan says the New Democrat government’s crime-fighting agenda involves more than increasing arrests of alleged violent offenders.
Horgan says he agrees with Attorney General Murray Rankin who told the legislature on Tuesday that a focus on more arrests of prolific offenders to curb crime would be “futile.”
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.
Those remarks came under criticism from Opposition BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon, who called on the government drop a “catch and release” approach toward repeat violent offenders, saying people in B.C. were living in fear of going outside in their own communities.
But Horgan accused the Liberals of engaging in a “bumper sticker” approach to the issue.
He cited remarks by newly elected Liberal MLA Elenore Sturko, a former RCMP officer, who told a campaign event that police “cannot arrest our way out of these problems.”
Horgan says his government is approaching crime in a “multi-faceted way,” with reform of the Police Act, reviewing the prosecution service, and increasing budgets for courts, mental health and addictions programs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2022.