Alberta government to introduce reinforced scrap-metal theft legislation

The province says new legislation is on the way to deal with a rise in scrap metal related crimes.

The Alberta government says new legislation is coming soon to help tackle scrap metal theft.

In recent weeks, there have been several cases around Edmonton in which metal has gone missing.

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They include two statues in different parks apparently cut off at the ankles and nearly a dozen plaques honouring first world war soldiers removed from a cemetery.

And the Hawkstone neighbourhood in west Edmonton has had metal address-plaques disappear from front yards for at least a couple of years.

Hawkstone resident Dave McKinnon told CTV News Edmonton the theft of the signs is frustrating and inconvenient but that they’re not worth replacing.

“There’s no point in having it replaced... and the cost, I don’t even want to consider (it),” McKinnon said.

The province updated legislation about three years ago, adding new requirements for scrap metal sales including a new database tracking personal information of sellers.

Those changes were largely in response to catalytic converter thefts.

The press secretary for the public safety minister says scrap-metal-related crime continues to be a serious issue and more legislation for it is on the way.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson