Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers responsible for Justice

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for  Justice
Regina, Saskatchewan
October 30, 1998  

Organized crime is a serious and growing problem affecting the health and  safety of Canadians. They are very concerned about its effects on their  communities, their families and vulnerable groups such as the elderly and youth.  The corrupting influence of organized crime, combined with the use of violence  and intimidation, represents a threat to public institutions here and around the  world.  

The federal and provincial governments, working in close collaboration with  the police and other key partners, have taken significant and substantial action  to combat organized crime over the past several years. More initiatives are  being developed now.  

There is a strong national consensus that governments must strengthen the  range of arrangements to combat organized crime and maximise the effectiveness  of resources. We underscore the need to address, in particular, the shared  concerns of illegal drugs, economic crime and frauds, money laundering and the  use of new computer and communications technologies in crime.  

Accordingly, we endorse and commit ourselves to implementing the following  Shared Principles for Action, underlining the common determination of all  partners to work together:  

   
1. Public safety and protection is a fundamental objective of Canada's  criminal justice system.  
   
2. Organized crime poses a unique challenge to public health and safety and  therefore requires concerted action by governments, law enforcement agencies and  other concerned parties.  
   
3. While all governments share a responsibility for combating organized  crime, the Government of Canada will continue to exercise a national leadership  role in facilitating cooperation among law enforcement agencies, all levels of  government and private sector and community based groups in creating an  integrated public safety network.  
   
4. Cooperation and partnerships are essential to develop concrete solutions  to common problems and will be encouraged at the local, regional, national and  international levels.  
   
5. Canada's law enforcement community, prosecutors and others require  adequate tools to combat organized crime, including the means to fully exploit  new and emerging technologies.  
   
6. Governments need regularly to update their legislation and regulatory  tools in order to keep pace with organized criminals.  
   
7. Taking the profit out of organized crime is an effective way of putting  these criminals out of business and efforts to seize their illegal proceeds  should be vigorously pursued.  
   
8. Governments should increase their efforts to inform Canadians about the  serious consequences of organized crime. Encouraging community action and crime  prevention are integral components of an effective strategy, and will further  support efforts to raise Canadians' awareness about organized crime  activities.

Provincial and territorial ministers call on the federal government, on an  urgent basis, to invest in the renewal of the National Police Services -  established in 1966 to assist governments in combating organized crime - as the  core of an integrated national public safety network for Canadians.  Specifically, the federal government should modernize the Canadian Police  Information Centre (CPIC) so that it can work effectively with provincial and  municipal information systems. It is noted that provincial and local police  already allocate substantial ongoing resources to contribute to the CPIC and  other national data bases and services. Local and provincial governments also  contribute to the public safety network by maintaining local data banks and  services.  

We remain committed to working collaboratively in the fight against organized  crime. To that end, we have directed that a steering committee of deputy  ministers, co-chaired by the federal Deputy Solicitor General and _______, be  established immediately to co-ordinate the development of plans and initiatives  to address priority concerns. Deputies will report to us at our next meeting on  the progress that has been achieved.