VANCOUVER -- The Conservative government will specifically outlaw street racing, with repeat offenders facing jail, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

The proposed legislation will create a new Criminal Code offence of street racing and those convicted will face driving bans and stiffer sentences than under existing crimes involving vehicles.

"We will have a series of escalating penalties that involve combinations of imprisonment and driving prohibition,' said Harper, adding he expects the detailed bill to be tabled in the Commons around mid-June.

Harper made the announcement at the RCMP's B.C. headquarters before a group of teens and standing beside blown up photos of wrecked cars, including the mangled RCMP cruiser of Const. Jimmy Ng, killed in 2002 by a street racer who was paroled last fall.

Harper also noted Vancouver residents' outrage that the two drivers whose street race killed pedestrian Irene Thorpe in 2000 were sentenced to house arrest, and referred to outrage in Toronto when an alleged street racer killed cabbie Tahir Khan in a collision last January.

"We're committed to a justice system that hands down serious time to those who commit serious crimes,' said Harper.

"No more excuses, no more broken promises, no more favouring the rights of criminals of those of victims. We will crack down on crime. We will protect the Canadian way of life.'

The street-racing bill follows Tory legislation to impose mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving guns and for ending conditional sentences for violent offenders.

The government will also move to protect young teens by raising the age of consent for sex to 16 from 14 years old.

Harper also indicated his government may also resurrect former B.C. Tory MP Randy White's private member's bill that targets hit-and-run drivers -- dubbed Carley's Law after a 13-year-old B.C. girl was left to die by a driver with a suspended licence who later served less than a year in jail.

"We are by no means finished with criminal justice legislation,' Harper said, adding the government is tabling four crime bills in this sitting and has more planned for the fall.

Harper said the proposed street-racing legislation is in the spirit of a private member's bill tabled by late Independent MP Chuck Cadman after Thorpe's death.

"Chuck was a selfless man who devoted his years in Ottawa to fighting for safe streets,' said Harper.

The popular Surrey North MP was first elected under the Reform and Canadian Alliance banners on a platform of fighting for victim's rights after his son was murdered.

He found himself on the outside after losing the Conservative nomination, but he won the seat again as an Independent. He died of cancer last year.

Harper commended Cadman's widow, Dona, for championing Cadman's work but she was noticeably absent from Thursday's announcement.

"Dona Cadman was in my office last week and I let her know that we would be out here making an announcement on the street-racing bill,' Harper explained. "I know she had some talks with Justice Minister (Vic) Toews on the options in the drafting of that legislation.

"In fairness to Dona, she's not part of the government or part of the party,' he said. "Whether she attends or not is ultimately her business.'

But Dona Cadman, who endorsed winner New Democrat Penny Priddy in her husband's old riding in the last election, said she wasn't invited to the announcement and wasn't even aware it was happening.

"(Harper) said there would be an announcement shortly,' she said. "He didn't tell me where, when, how or anything else. I would have loved to have been there.'

Cadman said she couldn't comment on the proposed bill's merits because Toews had not given her the details.

The former Liberal government refused to back Chuck Cadman's street-racing bill on advice it could be unconstitutional because it put the burden on the accused to prove they were not street racing.
© Canadian Press 2006