Automotive News Canada - February 2024 - 18

18
* FEBRUARY 2024
Fighting auto theft
needs 'buckshot,'
not a 'silver bullet'
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Champagne, said in a statement.
" Ongoing collaboration is vital to
protect the threat to the safety of
Canadians resulting from vehicle
thefts. Our government will leverage
our existing relationships with
industry stakeholders to raise awareness
and take concrete actions to help
stamp out this scourge. "
Measures include:
* Increasing capacity of the Canada
Border Services Agency by investing
$28 million to conduct more investigations
and examinations of stolen vehicles,
as well as enhance collaboration
on investigations and intelligence sharing
with partners across Canada and
internationally. This includes exploring
detection technology solutions, and
the use of advanced analytical tools,
such as artificial intelligence.
* Improving information sharing
between local police and railway police
to identify and find stolen cars before
they get to ports;
* Modernizing the Canadian Motor
Vehicle Safety Standards to ensure
they consider technological improvements
to deter and prevent auto theft;
* Identifying cargo handling vulnerabilities
through targeted assessments
of port facilities;
* Collaborating with Canadian companies
to develop innovative solutions
to protect vehicles against theft;
* Examining changes to the
Criminal Code, including existing
offences and penalties related to auto
theft;
* Banning the sale of devices used to
steal vehicles by copying the wireless
signals for remote keyless entry, such
as the Flipper Zero.
INDUSTRY URGES SWIFT ACTION
Global Automakers of Canada
President David Adams, who was
among industry representatives
attending the summit, welcomed the
measures and urged the government
to move quickly with
a coordinated action
plan.
Kingston:
Technology
alone can't
fix a complex
problem.
FILE PHOTO
" There are some
good initiatives,
but we really need
action, and that
action is buckshot.
There's no silver
bullet here, " said
Adams, who represents
overseas
brands in Canada.
Automakers have
been pressed by
some stakeholders
to improve anti-theft
technology in their vehicles, but Brian
Kingston, president of the Canadian
Vehicle Manufacturers Association
(CVMA), said that's just one aspect.
" The suggestion that somehow technology
can solve this problem is completely
unfounded, " said Kingston,
who represents the Detroit Three
automakers. " It's a misguided solution
to a very complicated problem. "
He noted that vehicle theft rates
in Canada have risen faster than
those in the United States since 2021.
According to statistics compiled by
the CVMA, rates in this country rose
27 per cent in 2022 compared with 11
per cent in the United States.
" That points directly to the fact that
you can easily move stolen vehicles
out of this market, " said Kingston.
-ANC
A BOOST TO BATTLE
AUTO THEFT IN ONTARIO
New funding is aimed at combating
organized crime linked to the
significant rise in stolen vehicles
By GREG LAYSON
DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS
spending $121 million to reduce gun violence,
auto theft and other gang-related
activities in Ontario.
Several federal cabinet ministers
joined Ontario Premier Doug Ford in
making the announcement Jan. 31 in
Aurora, Ont., about 50 kilometres north
of Toronto.
The latest data, which includes statistics
through 2023, show a rapid rise in
auto theft and carjackings.
In Canada's most populous province,
vehicle thefts rose to 28,121 in 2022, up
48.3 per cent from the previous year,
according to a June report from the
Équité Association, an insurance industry-backed
not-for-profit.
Police services in the Greater Toronto
Area have observed a combined
104 per cent increase in carjackings
from 2021 to 2022, according
to Criminal Intelligence Service
Canada.
Ontario's growth in car thefts
was topped only by Quebec,
where the number of stolen vehicles
hit 14,480 in 2022, up 50 per
cent from 2021.
ORGANIZED CRIME
According to the federal government,
auto theft increasingly
involves organized crime
groups, and the proceeds of auto
theft are used to fund other illegal
activities.
Reuss:
Federal
funding
puts a
much-needed
The majority of stolen vehicles
exported are destined for
Africa and the Middle East,
the federal government said. Some stolen
vehicles also remain in Canada
" enabling other crimes to be committed
with the vehicles and are destroyed
afterwards. "
spotlight
on growing
problem of
auto theft.
FILE PHOTO
take responsibility for their products if
they're vulnerable to theft, " he said at
the time. " Consumers deserve protection. "
He
called for Transport Canada to
consider ordering a recall of the 10 most
stolen cars in Canada.
The federal government said in a
statement that it " has been engaging
with industry and other stakeholders
on auto theft, " including
port authorities, rail and shipping
companies, as well as manufacturer
associations and the
insurance industry, " as part of
our collective effort to combat
this crime. "
This February, it held a
national auto theft summit in
Ottawa that drew a number of
industry stakeholders.
Investigations into auto theft
are led by local police, however,
the RCMP, Ontario Provincial
Police and Sûreté du Québec are
working in integrated task forces
to target organized crime,
including groups involved in stolen
vehicles.
CBSA responds to all referrals
from local police and other intelligence
sources to examine outbound containers
at points of export that may contain stolen
vehicles.
The funding will be used through the
Initiative to Take Action Against Gun
and Gang Violence, a program created
in 2017 and led by Public Safety Canada
with the Canada Border Services
Agency (CBSA) and RCMP.
Automotive News Canada reported in
October that Canadian consumers are
turning to dealership finance and insurance
departments for solutions to combat
the effects of auto theft.
At that time, LGM Financial Services,
a Vancouver F&I provider, said there
had been a boom in F&I products that
offer buyers a measure of protection for
either the vehicle itself or the victim's
financial situation.
AUTOMAKERS PRESSED TO DO MORE
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown as
far back as February 2023 called for
automakers to do more.
" Carmakers need to step up and
'CASH COW'
" Today's announcement by the federal
and Ontario governments puts the
right spotlight on much-needed law
enforcement action on stopping the
auto theft crisis, " Tim Reuss, president
of the Canadian Automobile Dealers
Association, said. " The federal minister
of justice and minister of public safety
made the clear connection between organized
crime and auto theft.
" The government has also clearly
understood that auto theft is the cash
cow of organized crime. This Ontario
government and federal contribution
agreement on auto theft is a step in the
right direction but more needs to be
done to stop organized crime controlling
the Port of Montreal. CBSA action on
auto theft should be a priority. "
Brown, the Brampton mayor, has also
called for more action from CBSA, saying
there needs to be " greater inspection
of shipping containers. "
" Currently, in Canada, a mere one per
cent of shipping containers are inspected
at our borders, " he said. " It is time
for the [CBSA] to allocate more resources
to shut down criminality at our ports.
GPS tracking of stolen vehicles shows
it's happening in plain sight. " -ANC
THEFT QUICK FACTS
* From 2021 to 2022, rates of vehicle
theft rose by 50 per cent in Quebec,
48.3 per cent in Ontario, 34.5 per
cent in Atlantic Canada and 18.4
per cent in Alberta, according to
industry estimates.
* In 2022, about 9,600 vehicles were
stolen in the Toronto area, representing
a 300-per-cent increase
since 2015, according to the
Canadian Finance and Leasing
Association.
* Police services in the Greater
Toronto Area have observed a combined
104-per-cent increase in carjackings
from 2021 to 2022.
* Transnational organized criminal
groups are believed to be involved
in the export of stolen vehicles
from Canada, however, most vehicle
thefts involve lower-level threat
groups, with violent street gangs
being the most prevalent.
* The majority of stolen vehicles
exported are destined for Africa and
the Middle East. Some stolen vehicles
remain in Canada enabling
other crimes to be committed.
* CBSA works closely with domestic
and international partners to
respond to all referrals from police
and other intelligence sources to
examine outbound containers at
points of export that might contain
stolen vehicles.
Source: Government of Canada
PHOTO: iSTOCK
Automotive News Canada - February 2024

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