Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

BC GOVERNMENT SAYS: “Forfeiture to better target drug crime, hidden assets”


VICTORIA:  Cash that is stored with illegal drugs or stolen goods, and assets that criminals try to hide in another person’s name or outside of B.C., will be more susceptible to civil forfeiture as government expands the reach of this tool to combat unlawful activity.

Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public
Safety and Solicitor General
“Police agencies are working tirelessly to take gang members and dealers of deadly fentanyl off B.C.’s streets,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

“Beefing up civil forfeiture to better undermine gang and organized crime is timely and necessary to supplement those frontline, life-saving efforts.”

Changes to the Civil Forfeiture Act, if passed, will:

Shift to the defendant the onus to prove that an asset is not an instrument or proceed of unlawful activity, in cases where the Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO) provides the court with sufficient evidence clearly linking the asset to organized crime, gang activity or drug trafficking. 

For example, if the CFO provides evidence that police seized $100,000 from a safe that also contained a kilogram of fentanyl, the cash will be presumed to be proceeds of crime, with the onus on the defendant to prove the money came from legitimate sources. Similar presumptions will apply in cases involving drug traffickers’ vehicles and property of members of organized crime groups.

Address the impact of instantaneous wealth transfer beyond B.C.’s borders. With modern technology, international organized crime groups and domestic gangs that amass wealth from criminal activities can attempt to liquidate assets or transfer wealth out of reach of provincial authorities. 

The amendments will make it easier for the CFO to identify, trace and obtain forfeiture of these crime proceeds before they disappear – for example, by empowering the office to obtain more, basic information from banks and others about those who may possess proceeds of unlawful activity.

Allow the CFO to apply to the B.C. Supreme Court for limited preservation orders before the office commences formal proceedings. This pre-emptive ability is another new tool that will help to prevent criminals from transferring suspected proceeds of crime out of the CFO’s reach before it files an application in court.

Make the civil forfeiture process more efficient and cost-effective – in turn maximizing the forfeited funds available to invest in community safety programs and initiatives throughout B.C.

“This is the most significant revision of this legislation in the 13-year history of the civil forfeiture program, yet all the changes further its original goal: to undermine the profit motive driving some of the most violent criminal activity in our province,” Farnworth said.

“We believe these changes will reaffirm B.C.’s leadership in Canada in tracing and forfeiting proceeds of crime.”
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interfor Moves Headquarters Out of BC as Forestry Crisis Continues

NDP policies are driving businesses out of B.C., and the forestry industry just suffered yet another calamity. Interfor, a BC company founded more than 60 years ago and now one of the world's largest lumber producers, is moving its headquarters from Burnaby, BC to Atlanta, Georgia. As BC’s forestry sector faces mill closures and mounting uncertainty, this move is another warning sign that the crisis is deepening and conditions are fatal. “This is the NDP’s record: endless job losses with no hope in sight for the forestry sector,” said Ward Stamer, Shadow Minister for Forestry. “Interfor still has three mills in BC which are now in serious jeopardy, and it is likely we will see even more companies pull out of BC. The NDP government is suffocating the forestry industry with high taxes, excessive regulations, and permitting delays, while DRIPA has made it impossible to plan for the future.” “Decisions like this are sadly not surprising given the NDP’s indifference if not hostility tow...
Post a Comment
Read more

Okanagan Farmers Face NDP-Created Water Crisis ~~ BC Conservatives

Okanagan farmers are facing a water crisis as government-imposed restrictions threaten to kill their crops and destroy one of B.C.’s most important agricultural industries. In perhaps the most water-rich province in the country, our farmers have been left high and dry by the NDP government. For nine weeks, Okanagan and Shuswap farmers have proposed solutions, only to be met with NDP foot-dragging. Now forest fires have come to these regions as they are simultaneously reckoning with a water crisis that has been made worse through years of government inaction. Vernon-area farms have lost 70 percent of their water, while Kelowna and Summerland growers face severe restrictions. This situation is unacceptable and cannot continue. Ian Paton, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, said the NDP is once again forcing farmers to pay for its own failure to plan. "Farmers and ranchers must be listened to when decisions affecting their livelihoods are made, and under the NDP, they aren’t," said...
Post a Comment
Read more

NDP Hypocritically Admits Natural Gas Power Was Needed All Along ~~ BC Conservatives

The NDP just got caught buying back the exact kind of power plant it spent years telling British Columbians they didn't need. The NDP government announced today that BC Hydro is purchasing the Island Generation natural gas facility in Campbell River, an admission that its electrification-only energy policy was never realistic. The 275-megawatt plant was originally privately owned yet kept to a minimal backup role under the NDP, operating just 15 days a year on average. Now, with demand outpacing what the NDP's plan can support, the government is spending taxpayer funds on the very gas capacity it once treated as obsolete. "You cannot electrify everything and pretend natural gas doesn't matter," said Larry Neufeld, Shadow Minister for Energy.  "Buying back a gas plant they once wrote off is proof their own plan couldn't keep the lights on. It's a step towards more energy reality, but the government needs to go further and scrap the impending province-w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more