A Conservative MP says immigration status should not be a “get out of jail free card” for violent offenders after a British Columbia court overturned a lenient sentence handed to a non-citizen who stabbed a man.The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled last week that a lower court judge gave too light a punishment because the attacker risked deportation. The offender had stabbed his victim in the arm and stomach, leaving him with 18 stitches and 50 staples. Instead of jail, the man received a conditional sentence of two years less a day to help him avoid removal from Canada.Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said it should not have taken a costly Crown appeal to deliver justice. .“Non-citizens convicted of a crime should face the same consequences as Canadian citizens, and when they are convicted of serious crimes, they should be deported. End of story,” she said.Rempel Garner accused the Liberals of being soft on crime and vowed Conservatives will table a bill to stop judges from reducing sentences because of immigration status.
