Pubdate: Sat, 24 Sep 2016
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Andrew Seymour
Page: A3

NAQVI ON HOSPITAL, POT & BAIL

The Ontario attorney general and Ottawa Centre MPP wants a central
Civic site, an end to marijuana law's 'grey zone' and bail reform to
cut jail crowding, Andrew Seymour writes after Yasir Naqvi met with
the Citizen editorial board.

ON THE SEARCH FOR NEW OTTAWA HOSPITAL SITE

As public consultation on a new site for the Ottawa Hospital's Civic
campus officially began Thursday, Yasir Naqvi said his preference is
that the hospital remains centrally located.

That means proposed locations along West Hunt Club Road aren't the
best choices from a dozen available federal sites, according to Naqvi.

"What I hear from my constituents, those are too far away," said
Naqvi, who attended the public consultation. "They overlap too much
with the catchment areas of a hospital like the Queensway-Carleton
Hospital.

"I think as you are looking into building a 21st-century hospital
which will not only provide urgent care and ambulatory care, but also
tertiary and primary care for the entire region, it should be
centrally located. It should utilize the public transit infrastructure
that is being built."

The debate about where to put the new $2-billion hospital has been
mired in controversy since the previous federal government announced
in 2014 that it was giving the hospital 60 acres of the Central
Experimental Farm land to build on, across from the hospital's current
location.

When he goes door-to-door meeting constituents, Naqvi said he isn't
hearing a lot of opposition to the site being on the farm.

"I'm not undermining the opposition, I think the Farm is a very
valuable piece of land, and that's why I'm very glad there is a
process in place to evaluate all those elements," said Naqvi.

However, some of those opposing the farm location don't live in the
community and "they were not providing an alternative," Naqvi said.

Naqvi said a proposed site at the eastern part of the farm near Prince
of Wales Drive and Carling Avenue could be an "interesting compromise"
since it is essentially brownfield and not being used for scientific
research or cultural reasons. It would also be on the city's O-Train
line.

The Booth Street site is interesting, but "I don't think the land mass
is sufficient there," said Naqvi. Tunney's Pasture is also a
possibility, but "I know the federal government has some other plans
for Tunney's," Naqvi said.

ON THE LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA

On Friday, Naqvi was given his mandate letter from the premier tasking
him with developing a regulatory framework in anticipation of the
federal government's legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

Naqvi said the task won't be easy, because Ontario and other provinces
are "in a grey zone" until they know exactly what form the federal
legislation will take when it's expected to be tabled in 2017.

"The concern I have is, how long is this grey zone going to last,
because there is a lot of work to be done," said Naqvi.

Naqvi said the province is a long way from discussing whether
marijuana will be sold alongside alcohol in the LCBO.

Naqvi said there hasn't been much cabinet discussion about marijuana
yet, but the province has created an inter-ministerial task force
including representatives from finance, community safety, health,
transportation, community and social services and the ministry of
children and youth services.

They are currently doing a canvas of policy options, which includes
watching and meeting with jurisdictions such as Washington State and
Colorado, as they have already legalized marijuana, Naqvi said.

He said the two primary areas of concern are the distribution of it
and how society will be safeguarded from its use.

"Safeguards are very important to us, protecting the youth, figuring
out what the right age is going to be. Keeping our roads safe is a
very, very important part of the deliberation, and harm reduction - we
cannot undermine that particular aspect. It is still an addictive
product, it does have an impact on people."

ON BAIL REFORM

Naqvi said one of his top priorities attorney general is reforming
Ontario's bail and remand system, and that he plans to announce an
"action plan" by the end of the year.

Ontario's bail system is blamed for overcrowding in provincial jails
such as the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. It's estimated 63 per
cent of inmates in Ontario's jails are being held on remand while
awaiting their trials.

"I am not interested in more studies or more strategies. I think we
have got a lot of that," said Naqvi.

Naqvi said the province's proposed reforms would address diversion at
the police station before a person is charged, as well as try to deal
with issues surrounding onerous bail conditions and the need for
sureties to monitor an accused person.

Naqvi said a six-month pilot program has embedded a Crown attorney
with the Ottawa police to ensure appropriate charges are laid. The
province is also trying to find better solutions for those with
mental-health and addiction issues, and make sure community supports
such as bail beds are available to ensure "we're not just setting them
up to breach their bail conditions," said Naqvi.

"We have to balance that off with public safety. I think we need to
really start with low-risk accused first and then sort of look up the
scale, but we do find that, looking at the data, a lot of people who
get into remand that causes the numbers to go up are people on the
low-risk end of things," he said.

Naqvi said the province is working with judges, lawyers, the federal
government, police and social services agencies to find solutions.

"They all see the need to deal with this," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt