Ottawa, ON – After eight years of Justin Trudeau, violent crime is up 39 percent. The number of murders has increased by 43 percent – the highest rate it’s been in 30 years, increasing by 66 percent in Toronto, 55 percent in Vancouver and 38 percent in Montreal. Meanwhile, the Crime Severity Index has increased by 10 percent from 2015 as criminals unleash chaos and disorder in our communities.

Trudeau’s reckless approach to crime has also caused a 34 percent surge in car theft across Canada since his government was elected. In our major cities, the spike in car theft since 2015 is even more extreme: increasing by 300 percent in Toronto, and more than 100 percent in Ottawa and Montreal, according to the Trudeau Government’s own news release.

What happened in 2015? Justin Trudeau was elected. The Liberal Government’s dangerous catch-and-release policies have unleashed crime and chaos in our communities. Bill C-75 allows repeat offenders to be released on bail within hours of arrest, who then often go and promptly re-offend. And Trudeau’s reckless Bill C-5 allows house arrest for these criminals, even those with a long rap sheet. This means that they can just walk out their front door, and be on the streets again immediately, stealing cars and terrorizing our neighbourhoods.

Now, Trudeau’s Justice Minister, Arif Virani, is desperately trying to gaslight Canadians into believing that the Liberals have “been actively fighting auto theft and organized crime.” Yet, all the evidence points to the fact that crime and car theft has only been getting worse and worse.

This isn’t the first time that Virani has lied to Canadians, telling a reporter last summer that Trudeau’s crime wave was just in Canadians’ heads: “I think that empirically it’s unlikely” that Canada is becoming less safe. Statistics Canada suggests otherwise.

Now, amid a dramatic surge in car thefts that is making life even more unaffordable for everyone, Justin Trudeau has decided to hold a summit. Canadians don’t need another summit, they need a common sense plan to stop the theft and end the crime.

Only common sense Conservatives have a plan to stop auto theft, protect our property and bring home safer streets.