Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jan 2005
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Cristin Schmitz

PROVINCES SET TOUGH AGENDA FOR COTLER

Includes Making 'Inhalant Trafficking' A Crime, Syringes As Bad As Guns

Criminals who use syringes as weapons should be punished as severely as 
those who use guns, say provincial justice ministers who are also lobbying 
the federal government to create a new crime of "inhalant trafficking" and 
to boost penalties for drunk drivers who transport children.

The three novel proposals are part of a packed agenda that the provincial 
and territorial ministers will pursue today and tomorrow in Ottawa during 
their annual meeting with their federal counterpart, Justice Minister Irwin 
Cotler.

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Michael Baker said police in his province are 
finding that robbers and other criminals have been changing their weapons 
of choice since 2000 when Parliament enacted a law requiring judges to 
impose prison terms of at least four years for crimes committed with firearms.

"Unfortunately there seems to be a growing trend for people to threaten ... 
'I have a syringe and I have got HIV and give me all your money'. Of course 
this form of theft is no different than threatening somebody with a gun -- 
from the point of view of the person being terrorized, the effect is the 
same," said Mr. Baker. "So we believe that it is very worthwhile to look at 
whether use of any kind of weapon, whether it's a gun or a syringe is 
something that should be included with a minimum sentence."

Manitoba Attorney General Gord Mackintosh said he will push for increased 
penalties for drunk drivers who transport children, even for cases where no 
accident occurs. "Thirty-five U.S. states have done this already," he said. 
"It's not enough that judges may from time to time consider child 
passengers as an aggravating factor" in sentencing.

Manitoba and other western provinces are also lobbying for new sanctions 
targeting "inhalant traffickers" -- people who sell common household 
products such as adhesives or glue remover knowing they will be used as 
intoxicants.

"We have legislation in Manitoba that allows for the shutting down of drug 
dens and sniff houses," explained Mr. Mackintosh. "But merchants of misery 
are often buying bulk products and then selling them in individualized 
portions, particularly to youth, and packaging it even with a bag and the 
intoxicating product," he said. "It's very difficult to prosecute."

Topping the list of federal reforms urgently sought by the provinces is the 
abolition -- or at least the severe restriction -- of conditional 
sentencing. Conditional sentences such as house arrest, curfews, electronic 
monitoring and other alternatives to incarceration can be imposed by judges 
for offenders who would otherwise be jailed for less than two years. Most 
provinces want people who commit violent crimes or offences that result in 
death to be ineligible for conditional sentences. Ontario Attorney General 
Michael Bryant goes further, demanding that criminals guilty of sex or 
child pornography offences not be permitted to serve sentences in the 
community.

"I think public confidence in the criminal justice system is being eroded 
because of the extent to which conditional sentencing is being used 
inappropriately in crimes of violence," said British Columbia Justice 
Minister Geoff Plant, summing up most provinces' views. "We have been 
pushing successive federal ministers to do something about this. I want a 
commitment from minister Cotler that there will be legislation."

The province and territorial justice ministers are also urging the federal 
government to boost its financial commitment to legal aid, which has been 
in crisis across Canada for more than a decade.

Skyrocketing legal aid bills for criminal and immigration cases, combined 
with shrinking federal transfers, have forced the provinces to cut or 
eliminate service to low-income people in most civil matters. Some 
provinces are bearing more than three-quarters of the tab.
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MAP posted-by: Beth