The federal government is expected to unveil new legislation Thursday that will include an automatic first-degree murder charge for any gang-related killings, CTV News has learned.
In other proposals contained in the bill, drive-by shootings and some serious drug offences would carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to visit B.C.'s Lower Mainland on Wednesday, where the Metro Vancouver area is struggling with rising gang violence.
There have been more than a dozen shootings in the last few weeks, leading to several deaths. Hundreds gathered this past weekend in Surrey to protest the violence, including the mayor and local MPs.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has called for a regional police force that would operate across the Metro Vancouver area, similar to the Toronto and Montreal police forces.
Public Safety Minster Peter Van Loan, who has called the Lower Mainland "the gang capital of Canada," set the stage for the proposed legislation on Monday.
"The wave of gang killings in British Columbia right now is driven by criminal organizations that all function on the drug trade," he said.
"It is the drug trade that's at the core of that violence, that's making those communities unsafe and that's why we need to give police the tools they need in the form of mandatory prison sentences for drug crimes."
