Gang action target of act, bill

ben lemphers/for metro edmonton

Liberal MLA for Calgary-Buffalo Kent Hehr enters the legislature chamber, yesterday afternoon. He is proposing a new bill to crack down on guns possessed by gangs. Hehr himself was the victim of a stray bullet in a gang shooting.

Published: March 03, 2009 5:20 a.m.

Last modified: March 03, 2009 1:23 a.m.

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Alberta Justice says it will continue to rip a page from Robin Hood by taking money from gangs in order to compensate victims of crime.

Alberta police and a team of Crown prosecutors have been working together to hit gangs where it hurts the most — their cash flow — under a two-month-old law that’s intended to help victims of crime, said Justice Minister Alison Redford.

Redford made the announcement yesterday, the same day Calgary-Buffalo Liberal MLA Kent Hehr proposed his new bill that will give police more tools in dealing with gangs by removing their guns.

But the province’s new Victims Restitution and Compensation Payment Act allows for the seizure of cash and property used in crime and then compensates victims and communities affected by criminal activity.

Redford says police across the province have already seized roughly $4.6 million in cash and re-sellable property since the act came into effect Jan. 1.

Those seizures include a vehicle that was used in an attempt to run over a police officer and a $500,000 anchorage near Wetaskiwin that was used as a grow-op.

“There’s a real concern out there about organized crime and we simply can’t arrest our way out of it,” Redford said.

None of the cash and seized property has been given back to victims as it will be up to the courts to decide later this month, even if someone is not convicted of a crime, said Karl Wilberg, director of the province’s civil forfeiture office.

“We’re not going after people, we’re going after their property,” Wilberg said.

“What we’re doing is what a lot of victims themselves could do in civil court. We’re helping Albertans who have been victims of crimes and communities that have been victims of crimes.”

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