MONTREAL - Ottawa is introducing legislation aimed at cracking down on auto theft.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says the best way to fight gangs and organized crime is to disrupt the criminal enterprises they depend on.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, auto theft costs more than $1 billion a year.
The new legislation will create a separate crime of theft of a motor vehicle that would carry a mandatory six-month sentence after a third offence.
It would also create an offence of "altering, destroying or removing a vehicle identification number."
Nicholson made the announcement today in Montreal, where there are more stolen vehicles and unrecovered stolen vehicles than anywhere in Canada.
