THE province says a ground-breaking program targeting youth who repeatedly steal vehicles makes it one of the toughest in the nation combating the problem.
Despite that program, 58-year-old James Duane was killed this week by a teen behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle.
One of the two youths involved in that fatal crash was already in the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS), and considered to be in Level 4, the highest at risk of stealing a vehicle. At that level, the youth is on an absolute curfew and has to be in personal contact with probation officials every three to six hours.
The death and the fact one of the teens was already in the highly vaunted program beg the question: is the program working?
Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen doesn't think so.
"It is of concern that these individuals were supposedly being monitored and clearly were able to get away with stealing a vehicle and driving it for some period of time," said McFadyen. "That points to some weaknesses in the program."
Critics and the families of victims may disagree, but officials with the province, Manitoba Public Insurance, Winnipeg police and an auto theft task force say the program is working, pointing to numbers that show the number of auto thefts have fallen dramatically.
But they say the auto-theft problem is more entrenched in youth culture than they thought.
"Most of us dealing with this are surprised how deep-seated it is with youth," said Prof. Rick Linden, a sociology professor at the University of Manitoba as well as a member of the Manitoba Auto Theft Task Force and president of the Vehicle Security Installation Bureau.
"Just hours after being released, they'll be back doing it again. We thought that with youth knowing police are following them more intensely it would be a deterrent, but many of these kids aren't deterred at all. It's just part of youth culture in some areas."
When announced in April 2005, Manitoba Justice, Manitoba Public Insurance, and the Winnipeg Police Service said the new Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Initiative made Manitoba "one of the toughest provinces in Canada for chronic auto thieves and is described by those who work with young offenders as highly progressive."
There are more than 150 youth spotlighted under the initiative. Since the initiative began, auto thefts have dropped by 26 per cent this year compared to last year.
The program, funded with $900,000 annually from MPI, proved so successful, the Crown corporation announced last year that it was extending its original two-year commitment to the program.
Last year, there were 964 arrests, 1,156 auto theft charges, 24,140 curfew checks, 75,457 contacts with thieves, and 88,114 checks in prison.
Justice Minister Dave Chomiak wouldn't concede any weaknesses in the monitoring program yesterday, saying it's impossible to keep track of thieves 24/7. The only way to do that is longer sentences handed out after first offenses.
"The core group of offenders, if we can't reform them, they will have to stay in custody a very, very long time," said Chomiak.
The federal Tories are expected to introduce legislation this fall to overhaul the Young Offenders Act, and Chomiak said he'd be travelling to Ottawa to make sure the changes crack down on habitual car thieves and close loopholes that make it tough to keep them in custody.
In April, the province announced it was doing a pilot project where 20 of the highest risk auto thieves would be fitted with electronic tracking devices. That should be in place early next year, said Chomiak. But he warned it won't be a cure-all for car thefts.
Brent Apter, project manager of the WATSS, said staff in the program "are very concerned" whenever there are lives at risk from people stealing vehicles.
"The staff take this very seriously," Apter said.
"We're always exploring to see if there are any gaps in the strategy," he said.
John Douglas, a spokesman for Manitoba Public Insurance, said the suppression initiative is just one way the auto insurer is using to deter thieves.
"It's important to recognize that in order to deal with this we also have the immobilizer program," Douglas said.
"If you look at these two deaths, they were by vehicles on our 'most-at-risk list'. These are vehicles that need to be parked and not stolen and on the road."
Douglas said 70,000 Manitoba vehicles have already received an Autopac-approved immobilizer, but there are still 47,000 at-risk vehicles needing one.
"People in Manitoba should have a right to ride their bike, get up and go to work in the morning, and go jogging on Wellington Crescent without fear something will happen to them," he said.
"What we're doing is the part we can control."
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
-- With files from Mary Agnes Welch
Two teens charged in connection with the death of a cyclist were remanded in court on Thursday. The pair did not appear
in court. A 15-year-old, who was allegedly driving a stolen truck that collided with James Duane, is charged with several
offences including criminal negligence causing death. The 16-year-old passenger is charged with theft over $5,000.
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