Sask. government introduces regional police, civil forfeiture legislation

The Saskatchewan government introduced two new pieces of legislation Wednesday aimed at addressing rural crime and seizing property associated with crime.

First, there is The Police (Regional Policing) Amendment Act. This bill’s intention is to allow rural municipalities and other municipalities with a population under 500 to join regional police services.

“The safety of Saskatchewan communities and families is a priority for our government,” Corrections and Policing Minister Christine Tell said. “These changes will help provide municipalities with an additional option to address the issues of rural crime.”

The province says that existing laws allow for the establishment of regional police services, but RMs can’t take part in these agreements in most circumstances.

The government says adding rural municipalities to regional police services will provide the opportunity to explore new policing models that better focus on rural residents.

The second bill looks at expanding the province’s civil forfeiture program by adding more criminal activity to the Seizure of Criminal Property Act.

The amendment aims to allow the seizure of property in the following circumstances:

• Vehicles where the owner has a history of impaired driving suspensions
• Property that was previously subject to a community safety order
• Gang or terrorist activity involving prohibited firearms
• Sexual offences, includes sexual offences with child victims.

Currently, there are provisions outlinging the seizure of property if it is presumed to be the instrument of an unlawful activity. The province says this places the onus on the defendant demonstrating the property should not be seized.

“We are committed to ensuring property is taken out of the hands of criminals,” Tell said. “These changes will broaden when that can be done and in turn, provide support to victims of crime and other community safety initiatives.”

The province says these matters are in line with legislation in other jurisdictions.

Both these pieces of legislation were first mentioned in Premier Scott Moe’s throne speech.