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By Michael Reeve

CANADA VOTES 2025

Election Issues 2025: Crime and public safety

Apr 25, 2025 | 4:15 PM

KAMLOOPS — The term catch and release has become synonymous with public safety concerns across Canada. Every level government – from city councils and regional districts, to the Provincial and Federal government – has been dealing with rising issues surrounding crime and public safety on the streets, all while balancing the need to get people the support they need, when they need it.

Kamloops candidates were asked — what policy changes will your party enact to reduce crime on the streets, while also ensuring people struggling get the support they need to enter recovery?

Their answers ranged as they tried to strike the correct balance between ensuring criminals are properly punished for their crimes, while also helping those with mental health and addiction challenges work towards recovery.

“Working towards how criminality occurs, providing supports for people on a mental health level, on an addiction level, providing support on a housing front,” said Owen Madden, the Green Party candidate in Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies. “It prevents, especially young people from falling off the cliff into criminality.”

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“There is no simple just lock them up policy that actually reduces crime, and has been proven across the world.”

The Conservatives are promising 50,000 recovery spaces across Canada if elected on Monday (April 28), that piggybacks on their proposed changes to bail policy.

“We will reform sentencing, we will address bail for that small discreet group, we are not talking about who have made one mistake in the life or a couple of mistakes in their life, we are looking for that handful of people in a community like Kamloops who disproportionally cause a lot of crime, a lot of victimization,” Frank Caputo, the Conservative candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola said.

“By addressing that small group and by bringing our loved ones home drug free we will build a much safer society.”

The Liberal platform includes the hiring of 1,000 new RCMP members, and 1,000 new CBSA officers to protect the border. Iain Currie is also looking to see community more involved in system.

“It’s a smart on crime as opposed to a simply tough on crime slogans,” Currie, the Liberal candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, said.

“In this community I would like to see, and I would be a champion in Ottawa for more input from our community in sentencing of offenders. So mandating that judges consider community impact statements.”

The NDP’s Miguel Godau wants to ensure that we don’t criminalize a large subsect of communities simply because they are struggling with addiction.

“Policy is going to be guided towards supporting our community policing and community mental health supports so that we are supporting services to find more success,” Godau, the NDP candidate in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola, said.

“When we get to the root of the issue, we have to go back a look at people don’t have housing, people don’t have food, people don’t have their basic needs met.”

The People’s Party of Canada wants to stop the catch and release system that they say allows repeat offenders back onto the streets.

“Put the tools in the hands of police and the funding so they can address those issues,” said Michael Henry, the PPC candidate in Kamloops-Shuswap-Central Rockies.

“For example, if somebody were to commit a crime with a gun we would be looking at an automatic 15 year sentence.”

Election day is Monday (April 28), with polls open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm in Kamloops.