Last Updated: Monday, April 14, 2008 | 4:35 PM CT

CBC News

The federal government plans to introduce legislation to crack down on auto theft, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Monday afternoon.

Stephen Harper making the announcement in Winnipeg on Monday

(CBC)

"First, we're making it a crime to alter, destroy or remove a vehicle identification number," Harper said.

"Second, we're expanding the criminal definition of trafficking and stolen property, including stolen cars and car parts. The new law will make it a crime to knowingly sell, give, transfer, transport, send or deliver goods that have been acquired criminally."

Harper said auto thefts inconvenience Canadian families, and are an invasion of privacy. 

"If you add up all of the costs — including treatment for people injured in stolen vehicle accidents, policing and court costs, as well as out-of-pocket expenses for things such as deductibles — it's estimated that Canadians pay more than $1 billion every year," he said.

The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code are specifically aimed at dealing with vehicles stolen by criminal organizations.

"For too long, these gangsters have been getting rich at the expense of people who work hard and play by the rules," Harper said.

One out of five stolen vehicles in Canada is connected with organized crime, he said, adding that the vehicles are often resold domestically or exported from Canada for resale.

Harper made the announcement in Winnipeg, a city that has consistently registered the highest rate of stolen vehicles in Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, there were 1,932 stolen cars for every 100,000 Winnipeggers in 2006 — almost double the rate of second-place Edmonton.

But Rick Linden, a criminologist at the University of Manitoba and co-chair of Manitoba's auto theft task force, says the new legislation won't have much impact in Winnipeg, where justice officials say most vehicles are stolen by youth out for a joyride.

"In Winnipeg, of course, most of the theft we have is not professionally driven," he said. "The kids are only in the car for a couple of hours, so they're not changing the identification numbers or trying to sell them."

The new law might have more impact in Montreal, where cars are often stolen for resale, Linden said.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and Winnipeg police Chief Keith McCaskill have repeatedly called on the federal government to get tougher on young car thieves, and to make auto theft a separate offence in the Criminal Code, rather than a run-of-the-mill property crime.

Neither would say they were disappointed in Monday's announcement — but both said a lot more needs to be done.

Harper said his Conservative government is working on other measures aimed at car thieves, including toughening penalties for young offenders and supporting a private member's bill that would make car theft a separate criminal offence.

Regina Tory MP Andrew Scheer brought the bill forward in 2006.

With files from the Canadian Press