Canadian Organized Crime—New Directions

Canadian Justice Minister Vic Toews is considering whether there needs to be sweeping changes to Canada’s organized crime laws.^[1] Part of this consideration is spurred by an “internal war of the Bandido biker gang that led to the shooting deaths of eight members in southwestern Ontario.”^[2] The other part of the consideration comes from the suspicion that “current anti-gang laws are too ‘cumbersome’ and ‘complex’ to effectively fight the problem.”^[3]

Part of the reform would include minimum sentences for gun crimes and higher pay and more resources for RCMP officers to tackle gun crimes.^[4] Minister Toews also thinks that Canada needs a RICO statute, in part because it “allows police to confiscate any and all property that could be linked to criminal activity.”^[5]

It is not a foregone conclusion, however, that Minister Toews will get the resources he desires. Some former police officers suggest that “there’s other things that are more important to the Canadian people, things like health care,” and lacking funds “is always an issue.”^[6]

As the law in Canada stands now, any person who participates in or contributes to any activity of a criminal organization is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for up to five years, if it is done for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organization to commit an indictable offence.^[7] A “criminal organization” means a group that is composed of three or more persons in or outside Canada and has as one of its main purposes or main activities the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences that would likely result in the receipt of a material benefit by the group.^[8] If the individual commits an indictable offence in Canada for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, a criminal organization, he is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years.^[9] Finally, a member of the criminal organization who instructs any person to commit an offence for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, the criminal organization, is guilty of an indictable offence, and liable to life imprisonment.^[10]

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[1] Steve Erwin, Justice Minister Mulls U.S. Organized Crime Laws After Violent Gang Deaths, Canadian Press (via Canada.com), Apr. 10, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id. See also 18 U.S.C. § 1963.
[6] Id.
[7] Criminal Code, R.S. c. C-34, s. 467.11(1).
[8] Id. s. 467.1(1).
[9] Id. s. 467.12(1).
[10] Id. s. 467.13(1).