Backgrounder

Ontario's Fight Against Organized Crime

Organized Crime Meets The Seven Pillars Of Organized Justice

September 22, 2006

The McGuinty government is committed to fighting organized crime. Ontario's response to organized crime is organized justice, a multi-pronged strategy consisting of seven pillars, designed to combat organized crime on all fronts. The seven-pillar strategy unites justice partners so that well-resourced criminal organizations cannot exploit the system.

The McGuinty government is actively implementing all seven pillars of the organized justice strategy. The seven pillars are:

1. Expanding the Guns and Gangs Task Force to bring together Crown prosecutors and police
2. Building a state-of-the-art provincial operations centre
3. Formalizing an inter-provincial agreement with Manitoba and Québec to share resources and information
4. Fast-tracking the hiring of 1,000 new police officers
5. Establishing major crime courts to respond to large-scale prosecutions
6. Seizing unlawful assets through criminal and civil forfeiture
7. Implementing a $45 million Challenge Fund to assist high-risk neighbourhoods.

Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant, Manitoba Attorney General Dave Chomiak and Québec Attorney General Yvon Marcoux met in Montreal today to officially sign the Inter-Provincial Agreement on the Prevention and Effective Prosecution of Organized Crime. The agreement, first announced by Bryant in May 2006, strengthens the provinces’ joint efforts to fight organized crime through better collaboration, information sharing and training.

What is organized crime?

Organized crime in Canada can take many forms, including money laundering, contraband cigarettes, identity and automobile theft, illegal narcotics, counterfeiting, child exploitation, migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons.

The financial and human costs of organized crime are staggering. Counterfeiting and automobile theft alone each cost the Canadian economy approximately $1 billion per year, while the human cost through victimization is incalculable.

Over the years, organized crime has reorganized and globalized. Sophisticated, diversified, multi-national criminal organizations now have the ability to exploit reduced trade barriers, technology such as the Internet, and inter-provincial and trans-national jurisdictions.

Contacts

Greg Crone
Minister's Office
(416) 326-1785

Brendan Crawley
Communications Branch
(416) 326-2210

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