Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime

Private Member’s Bill C-393, up for second reading in the House of Commons

The purpose of Bill C-393, introduced by Mr. Gordon Brown, MP for Leeds-Grenville, is to increase the punishment and impose a minimum punishment for the commission of an offence with a concealed weapon. The enactment also ensures that victims’ interests are taken into account during the conditional release process and that only the actual time spent in pre-trial custody is credited toward a term of imprisonment.

Rod and Paulette Moffitt will be present on April 11th to watch the debate over this Bill. Their son Andy was fatally stabbed in the heart almost 10 years ago, while trying to intervene as a Good Samaritan in a fight that broke out in a popular University hang out. Andy was an engineering student at the University of Ottawa and was celebrating the end of exams with his friends. He was posthumously awarded the Governor General’s medal of bravery for his actions that night.

The Moffitt family feels that knives have become the weapon of choice among thugs due to their ease of access and light sentences handed down by the courts. In Andy’s case, the killer was originally charged with second-degree murder, but pled guilty to manslaughter only minutes before the trial was set to begin. He received a 9-year sentence for this crime, but the judge reduced the sentence to only 5 years, awarding the killer for time spent in pre-trial custody with a two for one credit. As a result, Andy’s killer spent just over three years in prison for killing a Canadian hero.

During the period of 2000-2004 in Canada, there were 849 homicides involving knives, while during the same time there were 804 homicides involving firearms. The Moffitt’s have worked closely with their MP, Mr. Brown, to make sure this legislation is passed. Mrs. Moffitt said, "What happened to Andy could happen to anyone's loved one and this bill could prevent it from happening."

The Moffitt family feels the Canadian justice system treats guns more harshly than knives, despite the fact that knives kill more Canadians. They want to see mandatory minimum sentences that our courts apply to firearm homicides also being applied to homicides committed with knives. The CRCVC agrees and will call on all Members of Parliament to support its passage.