Pubdate: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2011 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 TORY PLAN WEAKENS JUSTICE Canada's association of lawyers is justifiably worried about the effect new sentencing laws will have on aboriginal offenders. The mandatory minimums for some offences in the federal government's proposed omnibus crime bill run contrary to the philosophy that reasonable, alternative measures to jail ought to be canvassed where appropriate. And with disproportionately more aboriginal people charged with crimes, they are likely to feel the effect disproportionately. If Canada's jails begin filling up because the Harper Tories aim to throw more people found guilty of selling marijuana in the slammer -- one target of mandatory minimums -- they are bound to house more aboriginal people, particularly on the Prairies where native populations are higher. The Conservatives have long felt Canada's Criminal Code, in particular its sentencing principles that have steered courts into an ethos of rehabilitation, has coddled crooks. The bill, which the Harper government has promised to pass in its first 100 days, cracks down on specific crimes and offenders the Tories believe jeopardize public safety. Judges are required, particularly for aboriginal people, to look at alternatives to sentencing -- but both the Supreme Court of Canada's Gladue decision, which spoke of systemic factors to consider for native people, and the Criminal Code explicitly say alternative sanctions are to be considered where reasonable. Judges, in other words, have greater flexibility to fit the penalty to the crime and criminal. The Supreme Court also said the more violent the crime, the less likely sentences for aboriginal and non-aboriginals would differ. The Tories are also targeting the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which now ties the hands of judges as it aims to keep young offenders out of jail, except in the most serious violent crimes. There is cause to add denunciation and deterrence to the act's sentencing principles but not as primary goals. This would give judges more discretion in sentencing and preserve the rationale of the Gladue decision. Mandatory minimum jail sentences do the opposite, and they should be prescribed sparingly, targeting offences for which the public would reserve special condemnation. The omnibus bill appears poised to catch up petty weed dealers in its clutches and that deserves a serious re-think by the federal Tories. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt