Pubdate: Wed, 04 Aug 2010
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2010 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Tonda MacCharles
Cited: Canada Gazette: 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2010/2010-08-04/html/sor-dors161-eng.html

OTTAWA STEPS UP FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME

OTTAWA-The Conservative government has quietly boosted police powers 
to target gambling, drug trafficking and prostitution activities by 
organized criminal gangs.

New regulations approved in mid-July but published today in the 
Canada Gazette designate as "serious offences" a series of crimes 
that do not necessarily garner five years or more in jail.

The move will allow police and prosecutors to more easily use tools 
they already have to target large-scale criminal operations.

Under the new regulations, police will be able to more easily obtain 
wiretaps and orders such as peace bonds, block bail or parole 
eligibility, seize assets and seek stiffer sentences. The criminal 
code defines as "organized" crime gangs those cases involving three 
or more people acting together in a criminal venture.

The offences now designated as "serious" are: keeping a common gaming 
or betting house; betting, pool-selling and book-making; offences 
related to lotteries and games of chance; "cheating while playing a 
game or in holding the stakes for a game or in betting"; keeping a 
common bawdy-house; and a series of drug trafficking, importing and 
production offences.

For the purposes of investigations and prosecutions, the regulations 
also designate trafficking in barbiturates, anabolic steroids and 
prescription drugs like tranquilizers, as well as trafficking in 
marijuana or hashish in amounts less than 3 kilograms, as "serious."

"Such crimes are often considered signature activities of organized 
crime," said Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, as he announced the 
regulations in Montreal.

Nicholson cited federal estimates that there are 750 organized crime 
groups operating across Canada.

Nicholson received an immediate endorsement from provincial police 
representatives in Quebec, but was met with skepticism from his 
political opponents.

Liberal critic Mark Holland said he wanted to study the regulations 
before commenting directly on them. "In organized crime, we can 
always do better, of course."

But he denounced the Conservatives for moving on measures without 
subjecting them to proper parliamentary study.

"This is about changing the channel. This is about raw politics," said Holland.

"What I detest and what I think Canadians see through is when you 
have a government that just whips up policy in the middle of the 
night and throws it out as a diversion to their other political problems."

Holland slammed the Conservatives for shifting about $5 billion to $8 
billion of prison construction costs onto the provinces, slashing 
support to crime prevention programs to $19.3 million in 2008 from 
$57 million in 2005 and for cutting funding for victims of crime services.

Holland also derided Treasury Board president Stockwell day for 
relying on so-called "unreported crime" statistics to justify an 
overall $10 billion to $13 billion in new prison spending.

"Do they propose to lock up people who haven't been criminally 
charged?" he said.

"The Conservatives prefer wild, out-of-control spending to fund their 
ideological pursuits even when taxpayers are forced to finance the 
largest deficits in Canadian history," Holland said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart