Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jan 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=88148f51-1702-4f09-ad06-5ac6f83a7ac3
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Ian Mulgrew
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES 'NOT EFFECTIVE'

Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler talks a good game.

Mandatory minimum jail sentences?

"Mandatory minimums are neither a deterrent nor effective," Cotler 
told The Sun editorial board Tuesday. "I will not be pressured into 
legislating because of the politics of the moment -- and I will not 
be intimidated into changing my principles. I said they are 
wrongheaded as a matter of policy and suspect as a matter of law . . 
. They are not effective, even though that is counterintuitive."

Well, that settles that you would think.

Notwithstanding clause? Shouldn't have been in the Constitution in 
the first place, in Cotler's view.

An apology for the Chinese head-tax? Why not? Cotler asked. Saying 
you're sorry for such an egregious wrong doesn't mean you're legally 
liable, the country's top lawman maintained.

Polygamy? It's a crime -- and the criminal prohibition will be found 
to be constitutional, the Liberal cabinet minister insisted.

Colour me skeptical.

Cotler arrived in office full of promise after a 1999 byelection. He 
was from the same riding and came with the same pedigree as the late 
prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau -- a thoughtful, principled law 
professor.

But rather than usher in a period of enlightenment, on Cotler's watch 
we have witnessed the abuses of overly broad national security 
legislation, a justice department that has become a handmaiden to the 
U.S. Bush administration and a continued erosion of public faith in 
the legal system.

Not that it will affect his re-election.

Mount Royal has been Liberal since 1940 and more than 75 per cent of 
voters last time backed Cotler in this federalist stronghold on 
Montreal Island. There is scant likelihood Cotler will be personally 
defeated -- that's why he was in B.C. this week trying to shore up 
the party's fortunes.

The problem I have with Cotler is that as a cabinet minister he has 
been ineffectual.

Cotler says mandatory minimum sentences don't work but his own 
government brought in 20 such amendments since 1995 and was preparing 
to add another handful. The bloodshed in Toronto was priming the pump 
for even more.

"I don't believe [such sentences are a] deterrent but there is 
another goal of sentencing, denunciation," Cotler backpedalled when 
pressed. "And I was asked to send this message . . . [my colleagues] 
don't share my view."

So Cotler thinks it's okay to bring in mandatory minimums as a 
symbolic message because people will wrongly feel more secure.

I say, what?

Such laws swept the U.S. back in the 1970s but today the evidence is 
in and it paints a bleak picture -- they do not work.

In America, they have caused prison populations to skyrocket along 
with costs while having a negligible if any effect on crime and addiction.

These statutes take away judicial discretion and rob judges of the 
ability to cut some slack to those who deserve a break or send 
addicts to less expensive treatment programs.

Instead of standing up and facing down the mob instinct (more than 
seven out of 10 Canadians favour mandatory minimums), Cotler has 
capitulated. He has done the same on other issues.

He says he wants to protect women and children and that polygamy is a 
crime. Yet he's done nothing about the concerns over Bountiful, B.C., 
and the effects that community's radical belief system might be having on kids.

The federal justice department won't take pot seed entrepreneur Marc 
Emery to court, but Cotler would stand aside and let the Americans prosecute.

Similarly, he claims he's not a fan of imprisonment.

"You should build soccer fields rather than prisons," Cotler said. 
"That's the kind of gang uniforms we need, a culture of prevention, 
hope and opportunity."

Cotler, however, was on the verge of introducing a marijuana bill 
that would have increased prison terms for guerrilla gardeners and 
pot dealers, and jail time is exactly the prescription his party is 
offering for ongoing gang violence.

When he's confronted with these apparent contradictions, Cotler 
claims it's not his fault.

The political process, in his opinion, frustrates his attempt to 
stake out and advocate more nuanced policies.

In the election campaign for instance, he believes the politics of 
scandal and corruption have drowned out concerns about women's 
rights, the need to protect society's most vulnerable, and the 
importance of human rights.

But think about this: Five years ago Ottawa decided to commemorate 
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg's efforts in Hungary during the 
Second World War to save Jews and other refugees fleeing Nazi oppression.

We made him Canada's first honourary citizen and declared Jan. 17 a 
day of remembrance to recognize one of the greatest humanitarians of 
the 20th century. Who made note of the occasion Tuesday?

"It worries me that in Canada we lose a sense of these things," Cotler said.

It worries me, too, but I think Cotler should blame his own party and 
himself for the plummeting respect for the legal system and the 
suspicion with which many Canadians are coming to view "human 
rights." They've been in charge.