MP David Wilks has introduced his first Private Member’s Bill, which seeks to impose a minimum sentence of five years for kidnapping a child under 16 years of age.
Bill C-299 was introduced in the wake of Keenan Hiebert’s kidnapping by a stranger in Sparwood earlier this autumn.
“I believe that all Canadians were overcome with fear when Kienan Hebert was kidnapped and elated upon his safe return,” Wilks said in the Commons. “We must send a message to those individuals who commit these Acts that it will not be tolerated and I believe this Bill does that. “
Wilks, a former Mountie, said constituents across the riding wrote, e-mailed and called his office asking for legislation to be introduced that might help curb kidnapping by predatory strangers.
“We must send a message to those individuals who commit these acts that it will not be tolerated and I believe this Bill does that,” Wilks said.
