Pubdate: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2011 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Don Butler PRISONERS' MOVE TO CANADA SHOULD BE OK'D, COURT RULES Safety Minister Wrong to Block Transfer From U.S. for Two Drug Dealers, Judge Says Public Safety Minister Vic Toews acted unreasonably when he refused to allow two Canadians imprisoned in the United States to serve out their sentences in Canada, a Federal Court judge has ruled. In two decisions posted to the Federal Court website Thursday, Justice James O'Reilly overturned Toews' rejection of applications under the International Transfer of Offenders Act filed by Montreal native Franco Tangorra and Tomaso Villano, of Richmond Hill, Ont. Both men were arrested by American authorities for trying to traffic in or import large quantities of the drug ecstasy. Tangorra mailed 30,000 units of ecstasy, concealed in motorcycle helmets, to an undercover agent. He was arrested in 2007 when he tried to collect payment and is now serving a sentence of seven years and three months in a U.S. prison. He is due for release in 2014. Villano and an accomplice were caught in a New York state parking lot in 2006 with two garbage bags containing more than 100,000 ecstasy pills. His sentence runs until October, 2012. Tangorra had no previous criminal record, and Villano's only other conviction was for failing to stop at the scene of an accident. Tangorra's file included a supportive letter from his MP and a declaration from his wife that he was a good husband and father. In rejecting the two applications, Toews disregarded evidence presented by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) that neither Tangorra nor Villano was likely to re-offend and that their transfers would pose no threat to Canada's security. According to O'Reilly's written decisions, CSC said both men have social and family ties in Canada. If not transferred, CSC told Toews, they'd be deported to Canada at the end of their sentences and would not be subject to any supervision or control. The rationale for transferring offenders is that it will aid in their rehabilitation and reintegration to society. "Our argument is that public safety is better served by the transfer," said John Conroy, the Abbotsford, B.C. lawyer who represents both Tangorra and Villano. "If a person isn't transferred, then they'll be deported free and clear, without any restriction," Conroy said. "A gradual release we know is far more in the public interest in terms of public safety." O'Reilly's intervention doesn't clear the way for Tangorra and Villano to return to Canada, however. Instead, their cases will go back to Toews for reconsideration. Conroy said re-hearings - which typically occur within 60 days - are usually successful, but not always. When Liberal governments were in power, they routinely approved transfer applications. But in a policy shift that has created a diplomatic flap with the United States, Conservative ministers have begun to reject a majority of them. According to CSC data, the minister of public safety approved just 27 per cent of 89 transfer applications he considered in 2009-10, the latest year for which figures are publicly available. Nearly two-thirds of denials over the past decade involve people convicted of drug offences. After judicial review, the Federal Court has been overturning a significant number of more recent ministerial denials. But the government's omnibus crime bill, which received third reading in the House of Commons earlier this month, broadens the grounds under which the minister can deny transfer requests in future. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom