June 3, 2010

PCs CALLS ON NDP TO INCREASE FINES FOR CEMETERY VANDALS

Current penalties outdated and unacceptable: Schuler

Standing at the St. Boniface Cemetery, Progressive Conservative MLA for Springfield Ron Schuler said this morning that it’s time for serious changes to be made to the province’s Cemeteries Act.

“The current fine for vandalizing a gravesite monument is between four and forty dollars,” said Schuler. “The penalty for destroying the recognition of a loved one ought to be much stronger.”

Schuler plans to introduce a Private Members’ Bill – the Cemeteries Amendment Act – that would significantly increase the minimum and maximum fines for various cemetery offences. Under his proposed legislation, the penalties for committing a cemetery offence would increase to between $1,000 and $2,000.

“The current fine levels were instituted 104 years ago and are no longer an acceptable punishment for something so serious,” Schuler said. “There are over 1600 cemeteries in Manitoba, and every year, a handful of them are maliciously vandalized and defaced. By drastically increasing the minimum and maximum penalties, my Private Member’s Bill will ensure that the punishment fits the crime.”

The St. Boniface Cathedral Cemetery was targeted by vandals on Halloween last year, with over $5,000 worth of damage being done.

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