IBC seeks tougher penalties for auto theft

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) is hailing Canadian Attorney General Irwin Cotler for introducing new legislation to help curb organized auto theft, while at the same time calling on Canada’s department of justice to impose tougher penalties.”We are encouraged that the Justice Minister is moving ahead on this file,” IBC’s vice president of investigations Rick Dubin says. “By amending the Criminal Code to specifically deal with Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) tampering, the federal government is sending an important message that it is taking the violent offence of auto theft seriously.”The department recently proposed legislation that would make it a specific offence in the Criminal Code to wholly or partially alter, obliterate or remove a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on a motor vehicle “without lawful excuse and under circumstances that give rise to a reasonable inference that this was done to conceal the identity of the motor vehicle.”All vehicles in Canada are required to have a vehicle identification number (VIN) in order to clearly distinguish one similar motor vehicle from another. Currently, anyone caught tampering with a VIN number would be charged with “offence of possession of property obtained by crime,” as there is no offence in the Criminal Code directly prohibiting the alteration of VIN numbers.Under the proposed law, anyone convicted of VIN tampering would be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. The Crown could also choose to proceed by way of summary conviction, which would provide a maximum fine of $2,000, imprisonment for six months, or both.Insurers, however, are seeking specific amendments to the proposed legislation that would impose tougher penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences for auto theft. “Right now, auto theft is seen by criminal organizations as a relatively low-risk, high-profit activity to raise funds for additional activities,” Dubin says. “Far from being a victimless crime, auto theft is an inherently violent criminal offence that has a devastating impact in communities right across the country in terms of fatalities and injuries, not to mention the cost to insurance policyholders.”