Inside Halton: Federal, provincial politicians hold first Oakville Crime Prevention Roundtable

By David Lea, The Oakville Beaver

A joint statement said the meeting reinforced the need for a stronger Criminal Code and stricter bail laws for home invasions, car theft, and violent and organized crime.

Liberal MPs and Tory MPPs joined the chair of the Halton Police Board as they zeroed in on possible paths to decrease crime during the first meeting of the Oakville Crime Prevention Roundtable on July 17.

The group — which included Oakville East MP Anita Anand, Oakville West MP Sima Acan, Oakville North—Burlington MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos, Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford and Halton Police Board Chair Jeff Knoll — said they discussed concerns raised by their constituents about incidents of property crime, such as auto thefts and home invasions.

They noted that while auto thefts across Halton dropped 20.9 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year and Halton continues to be recognized as the safest regional municipality in Canada, there is still much to do.

Halton police said during a police board meeting on March 27 that while overall violent crime within the region dropped by 5.6 per cent in 2024, robberies, including home invasions, saw an 11.1 per cent increase.

There were also more reported instances of property crime, such break-ins and thefts, in 2024, growing to 12,455 incidents compared to 11,254 in 2023 — a 10.7 per cent jump.

According to a joint statement, those present during the roundtable meeting clarified their respective responsibilities and reaffirmed that each level of government must play its part in working to prevent crime before it starts, ensuring law enforcement has the tools needed to disrupt crime and holding those who commit crimes accountable.

Participants said they discussed the importance of an interjurisdictional approach to strengthening the capabilities and capacity of the police services, the court system, border services and detention centres.

The meeting also reinforced the need for a stronger Criminal Code and stricter bail laws for home invasions, car theft, and violent and organized crime.

Anand said the group plans to meet every two months, with the next meeting scheduled for the fall.

“We will be speaking with numerous different members of the community and that will include town councillors, members of the police force and we will make sure that we are each working on reforms that need to be implemented to strengthen the position of the community concerning crime,” said Anand.

“We want to ensure that we are advocating for Oakville within our respective areas of jurisdiction. I will be advocating for greater reform in the area of the criminal law, including consecutive sentencing for auto theft and serious and violent offences, and directing our courts to primarily consider denunciation and deterrents when sentencing repeat car thieves or home invasion offenders; and securing our borders by training new CBSA officers, implementing additional border scanners, drones, and new canine teams to target more suspicious shipments at our land borders, ports and rail yards.”

The Oakville East MP said the other roundtable members will have their own reforms they will work on for their respective areas, adding that during each meeting, reports on the progress of these proposed reforms will be provided.

“We will, in a way, keep each other accountable by having this conversation every two months, asking each other for progress on the areas we are responsible for,” said Anand.

Anand said the roundtable’s first meeting was useful and saw progress.

She noted the kind of collaboration being seen here in Oakville is a rarity in Canadian politics.

“If you look across the country, it is very very rare to see a roundtable like this where you have elected officials from different political parties coming together to say, ‘At this time in our community, partisanship is not going to prevent us from working together and collaborating,’” said Anand.

“This is exactly what Oakville needs and there is no time for partisanship when your community needs you.”