Pubdate: Thu, 04 May 2006
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Janice Tibbetts
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

TORIES UNVEIL CRIME CRACKDOWN PLAN

New Legislation Centrepiece Of Justice System Overhaul

The Conservative government will start rolling out its tough-on-crime 
agenda today by introducing a law to put more people in jail and keep 
them there longer if they commit drug, gang, or gun crimes or 
reoffend while on parole.

The government will also propose legislation to severely restrict 
conditional sentences that allow some offenders to serve their time at home.

The two bills are the centrepiece of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 
plan to overhaul Canada's criminal justice system.

Justice Minister Vic Toews said yesterday the legislation dealing 
with guns will reflect the government's promise in the recent 
election campaign to impose new mandatory prison terms for 
gun-related crimes ranging from five to 10 years.

"I don't think what people will see here will be any surprise," he said.

The election platform calls for 24 new or increased jail terms, 
including five years for possession of a loaded handgun, and 10 years 
for robbery with a firearm.

Mr. Harper recently laid out a more expansive blueprint for the new 
laws, which he said would also include mandatory imprisonment for 
serious drug trafficking, crimes committed while on parole and for 
violent and repeat offenders to "help beat back the epidemic of guns, 
gangs, and drugs that is plaguing our streets."

The Conservatives set aside an undisclosed amount of money in this 
week's budget to pay for more prison cells to support its plan.

The federal opposition parties, while mindful of a growing problem in 
Canadian cities with guns and gangs, have sent signals the 
Conservative measures are too stiff to support.

Furthermore, there are concerns they will not survive a Charter of 
Rights court challenge on the grounds that they are too excessive for 
the crime.

"Realistically, there is a real limit of what the Supreme Court is 
going to tolerate," said NDP justice critic Joe Comartin. "The 
suggestion is we'd probably be safe at five years and in extreme 
cases push it to seven."

The success of the legislation, which Mr. Toews predicted will pass 
quickly, depends on at least some support from the opposition 
parties, who control the minority Parliament.

One factor working in the government's favour is no party wants to be 
seen as opposing an anti-crime bill at a time there is public concern 
across the country.

Mr. Harper, in a speech two weeks ago in Winnipeg, issued a bold 
challenge to the opposition parties to come onside.

"Our clear agenda to crack down on crime will force the Liberals and 
others to take a stand."

Mr. Harper also called on Canadians to lobby their MPs to vote for 
the anti-crime package.

Mr. Comartin said the NDP will vote against any bill that calls for 
minimum mandatory sentences for drug-related crime "because they don't work."

There are already 20 automatic jail or prison terms of up to four 
years for gun-related crimes in the Criminal Code, ranging from one 
to four years, imposed a decade ago as part of the Liberal 
gun-control laws. Automatic prison sentences also exist for a handful 
of other crimes, including murder.

Both the Liberals and the New Democrats say they will not back 
legislation that is not accompanied by community-based crime 
prevention programs. The budget set aside $20 million over two years 
to discourage young people from lives of crime, which falls short of 
the amounts proposed by the Liberals and NDP.

Minimum mandatory sentences are controversial because they take away 
flexibility for judges to impose sentences as they see fit.

"I'm not a huge fan of minimum mandatories because you take away 
discretion from the court, which is appropriate sometimes to tailor a 
sentence to a particular kind of crime," said Steve Sullivan, 
president of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime.

Moreover, criminologists contend that minimum mandatory penalties are 
expensive and they do nothing to reduce crime.

Mandatory prison terms for drug trafficking alone could put thousands 
more prisoners in the federal system, which currently houses 12,400 
inmates at an estimated $82,000 each per year.

For the bill to end conditional sentences, a lot of the jail costs 
would likely have to be covered by the provinces, because "house 
arrest" is only available for sentences of less than two years, which 
are always served in jails rather than federal prisons.

The Conservatives have said they would ban conditional sentences for 
certain crimes involving violence, sex, drugs, weapons or impaired 
driving, and for crimes committed against children.
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