Pubdate: Tue, 28 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: Jordan Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) OMNIBUS CRIME BILL BACK IN COMMONS Few Changes Made in Senate The federal government's omnibus crime bill will be heading back to the House of Commons after senators approved changes to Bill C-10 early Monday. The six changes, proposed by Ontario Conservative Senator Bob Runciman, were approved easily, but changes Liberal senators wanted to the Safe Streets and Communities Act received a tougher ride, including a failed proposal to raise the number of marijuana plants one could legally grow to 20 from six. The Conservative senators on the Senate legal affairs committee used their majority to reject all 17 changes the Liberals proposed. Liberal senators also raised concerns about provisions in C-10 that could hit aboriginals harder than others, but Tories on the committee said the bill focused on crime regardless of who was responsible. Liberal Senator James Cowan said Monday there are some Tory senators who are critical of the bill and may vote with the opposition Liberals when the Senate as a whole debates Bill C-10 on Wednesday. Liberal Senator Joan Fraser said police told the committee they were unlikely to hunt down Canadians growing as few as six marijuana plants and would focus instead on large producers. "It's very strange to pass a law when the police tell you they that they probably wouldn't enforce it," Fraser said. Runciman's amendments were similar to the six that Liberal MP and justice critic Irwin Cotler proposed when the bill was in the House of Commons. The six changes adopted include defining what it means to support terrorism and giving victims of terrorism the ability to sue the group or state that supported the terrorist act. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom