BARRIE – Today, Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak was joined by Gary Ellis, Ontario PC Candidate for Scarborough-Guildwood, as well as Rod Jackson, Ontario PC candidate for Barrie, to announce his plan to keep Ontario families and children safe by requiring high risk offenders who are released into the community to wear GPS tracking devices.

Too often high risk offenders who are very likely to commit further crimes are allowed to roam freely. These criminals are hard wired to threaten law-abiding citizens. Stalkers, serial wife abusers, gang members, and sexual predators are some examples of dangerous criminals whose whereabouts should always be known.

Hudak said he will protect families by putting GPS devices on these high risk offenders, giving police the tools they need to track them and, if needed, react immediately to protect the community.

On October 6th, Ontario families will have a clear choice between Dalton McGuinty, who has said crime is not a priority, and Tim Hudak, who will stand up for families who work hard and play by the rules and stand against those who want to take advantage of them.

QUOTES:

“Dalton McGuinty doesn’t think tracking high risk offenders’ whereabouts is a real issue. He seems more worried about the privacy rights of these criminals, than the safety of Ontario families. An Ontario PC government will make public safety a priority and use GPS technology to monitor the people who threaten us.”
–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

“We are the only party that will use twenty-first century technology to protect innocent families from dangerous criminals. Police will be able to monitor offenders and, if needed, react immediately to protect the community.”
–Tim Hudak, Ontario PC Leader

“I am very proud of this initiative as I believe that the first duty of any government is the protection of its most vulnerable citizens; our children. This will go a long way to provide the police with the tools they need to proactively monitor the management of high risk offenders and sexual predators in our communities.”
–Joe Wamback, Co-founder, Canadian Crime Foundation

QUICK FACTS:

• Three provinces, the federal government, and more than 40 American states use GPS technology to monitor high-risk offenders.
• A Tim Hudak government will use GPS technology to monitor registered sex offenders. Currently, there are over 14,000 names on Ontario’s sex offender registry, but at any given time, the police have no idea where they are, or what they are doing.
• GPS technology is effective and precise enough that it would allow law enforcement officials to track high risk offenders to exact street addresses.