Canada is now the “car theft capital of the world,” with over 105,000 vehicles stolen in 2022. This translates to about one car being stolen every five minutes. Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani, who has had his car stolen three times, highlights the severity of the issue. Canada recently started sharing car theft data with Interpol, quickly landing in the top ten for car thefts globally.
Car thieves usually have three motives: using the car for a crime, selling it within Canada, or exporting it. Since February, Interpol reports that 1,500 cars have been illegally shipped out of Canada, with 200 more added weekly. The Insurance Bureau of Canada calls this a “national crisis,” costing $1.5 billion in claims last year.
Many Canadians have lost faith in police effectiveness, resorting to private security and vehicle trackers. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre criticizes the Trudeau government’s response and promises tougher measures. He advocates for raising the mandatory minimum sentence for a third offense from six months to three years and identifying organized crime as an aggravating factor.
In a news conference, Poilievre pledged that a future government under his leadership would prioritize harsher punishments for repeat offenders. He stressed the need for “jail, not bail” to tackle this growing problem effectively.