Mr. Speaker, time and again, I hear from constituents in Edmonton Gateway and from people right across the country about how deeply frustrated they are with the Liberal government's reckless bail laws. They do not know what to do anymore. After this lost Liberal decade, the results are clear. Our justice system now puts the comfort of violent criminals above the safety of everyday Canadians.
The numbers speak for themselves in Canada. Violent crime has surged by over 50%. Gun crimes have more than doubled. Gang-related homicides are up 80%. Extortion cases have exploded almost 400%. Auto theft is up over 50%. In 2022, shockingly, 256 people were charged with homicide while already out on some type of release, such as house arrest, parole or bail. With 874 homicides in total that year, these criminals have counted for nearly one-third of all murders. These are people who were out on release. That number has only grown since that time. Behind these statistics are victims with names and families, their lives cut short.
In Edmonton, we lost a 52-year-old father, a refugee from Congo who was stabbed at the LRT station. It was the attacker's fourth violent offence in Edmonton's transit system. In Welland, Ontario, a convicted sex offender serving probation after sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy was released early. He then broke into a home and brutally assaulted a three-year-old girl. In Toronto, the man accused of attempting to murder a police officer in 2024 was already out on bail despite multiple breaches and orders not to possess firearms.
What do these cases all have in common? Each victim was harmed by someone who should have been behind bars.