in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 17 ,2 02 0 | 12 Congratulations Jean-Louis Bellemare and Jeff York President and General Manager, Farm Boy Partner & Special Advisor, Farm Boy on your Food Industry Association of Canada 2020 Golden Pencil Award. From your friends at Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford tabled a private member's bill in the Onta- rio Legislative Assembly Tuesday, Dec. 8, which seeks to introduce the first provincial fines for pack- age piracy in Canada. Package piracy, is that a thing? Yes. Package piracy or porch piracy refers to the theft of a package after it has been dropped off at a residence before the recipi- ent can retrieve it. Does that happen a lot in our community? While Halton police were unable to provide any local statistics about pack- age piracy, a late 2019 Fe- dEx survey found that of the 1,500 Canadian online shoppers asked 29 per cent reported having a package stolen. Crawford points out things have changed since late 2019. "E-commerce is becom- ing an important avenue for businesses to reach their customers. Since the onset of the pandemic, our province and country have experienced an increase in online shopping, and this brings more opportunity for package piracy," said Crawford. "Surveys show that package piracy has been a growing concern in our country." Crawford said society needs to take a hard stance against those who trespass to take packages and give consumers more confi- dence when they order on- line. OK, so what can be done to address this issue? Crawford's bill proposes to amend the Trespass to Property Act to provide minimum fines when a per- son trespasses for the pur- pose of taking or otherwise interfering with mail ad- dressed to another individ- ual. So, if this bill passes and a porch pirate is caught and convicted, they'll get a new fine. Will it be enough to deter them from swiping parcels again? A person convicted of this crime could receive a fine of no less than $500 and no greater than $10,000. Upon conviction of a second offence the mini- mum fine would increase to $1,000 while each subse- quent offence would see a minimum fine of $2,000. The maximum fine would remain consistent at $10,000. What happens if you get caught stealing a package now? Halton police say steal- ing a package would result in a charge of theft under $5,000 or theft over $5,000 depending on what was in- side the package. According to the Crimi- nal Code of Canada some- one found guilty of theft under $5,000 could spend up to two years in prison. Someone convicted of theft over $5,000 could spend a maximum of 10 years in jail. Crawford's staff said if the private member's bill passes package pirates will face the new fines in addi- tion to these existing crimi- nal charges. Have any other provinces done this? While Crawford said many jurisdictions in the United States have brought forward porch piracy legis- lation, Ontario would be the first province in Cana- da to introduce provincial fines against porch pirates. The private member's bill is scheduled for a sec- ond reading at Queen's Park on Feb. 17, 2021. LOCAL MPP BRINGS FORWARD BILL TO COMBAT PORCH PIRATES Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford has brought forward a bill to help combat porch pirates. Graham Paine/Metroland DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com CRIME