The federal government’s new Tackling Violent Crime legislation is welcome and timely.

The only drawback is political. Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears to be daring the Opposition to defeat the legislation. He has left no room for compromise and made it a confidence motion, meaning that defeat will result in an election.

Some of the bill’s proposals had passed the House of Commons and were before the Senate during Harper’s first session, which ceased when he prorogued Parliament this summer. The new legislation will still have to go through the Parliamentary process, including a committee review.

Nationally, statistics show homicide is down 10 per cent, sustaining a three-decade trend. There were 605 reported murders last year, down 58 from the previous year.

However, the number of youths -- between 12 and 17 years of age -- accused of homicide was the highest in more than four decades with 84 cases, up from 72 in 2005.

Despite public perception, firearms-related homicides dropped to 190 from 223, though 83 per cent of homicide perpetrators were known to their victims. Canada had 78 spousal homicides last year, up by four, with an increase of males being killed by their partners; 21 compared to 12 in 2005.

But homicides are merely the most apparent and shocking of crimes among us. As From the Cruiser and our court reports illustrate, there is no lull in crime locally. More to the point, we get some of the worst here, too: homicide, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, aggravated assaults and major property offenses.

This doesn’t even include such things as petty property crimes, drug possession and provincial motor vehicle and alcohol offenses that fill our court reports twice weekly.

The government’s current legislation includes measures to increase minimum penalties for gun-related crimes, putting the onus on the accused in bail hearings, more intense violent offender designation, and increasing the age of sexual consent from 14 years to 16. A move to stricter treatment of impaired drivers is already underway.

In the past, governments have responded to any gun crime by lashing out and further squeezing law-abiding long-gun owners. Now perpetrators are the targets and they will pay the price.

Critics and experts have long advocated education and other programs to combat crime. Indeed, those are worthy facets of crime prevention that work conjunctively with robust enforcement and deterrence. But keeping a criminal off the streets is still the best way to keep our streets safe.

Ultimately, the aims are correct and long overdue. The streets – and rural roads – of the country have been victimized far too long by those who flaunt the laws and enforcement measures as they currently exist.

We applaud any move toward tougher law enforcement, but we could stand to do without the political attitudes and platitudes that appear to impede the process.