Pubdate: Mon, 13 Feb 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 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

FEDERAL COURT REBUKES TOEWS, AGAIN

Refused Prisoner's Transfer Application

For the third time in six weeks, the Federal Court of Canada has 
slapped down Public Safety Minister Vic Toews for rejecting the 
transfer of a Canadian citizen imprisoned in the U.S. for a drug crime.

In a Jan. 19 decision, Justice Robert Barnes overturned Toews' 
refusal to approve Richard Goulet's 2008 application to serve the 
rest of his sentence in Canada. Toews must now reassess Goulet's 
application within 45 days.

Goulet, of Ayer's Cliff in Quebec's Eastern Townships, is serving a 
sentence of seven years and three months in the U.S. for conspiring 
to import and distribute a large quantity of marijuana. He was arrested 2006.

It took Toews more than two years to rule on Goulet's transfer 
application, and when he finally did in December 2010, he rejected 
it, despite a report by Correctional Services Canada that concluded 
he posed no threat to the security of Canada.

The Correctional Services report also noted that Goulet suffers from 
a severe case of bipolar disorder that requires a specific regimen of 
medicine and testing.

"It has been reported by the family and his attorney that Mr. Goulet 
has suffered significant weight loss and appears ill and 
over-medicated," the report continued. "The failure to monitor Mr. 
Goulet's condition can potentially have lethal consequences."

In his decision, Barnes pointed out that the law requires Toews to 
give reasons for his decision. He said it was "impossible to tell" 
what factors caused Toews to deny Goulet's application.

Under Liberal governments, transfers were routinely approved. But the 
Conservative government has rejected most cases, particularly those 
involving people convicted of drug offences.

The Federal Court has been overturning a large number of those 
refusals. But that could soon change. The government's crime bill, 
which should soon get royal assent, broadens the grounds under which 
the minister can deny transfer requests.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom