Pubdate: Tue, 08 May 2007 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 TORY PLEDGE IS BIZARRE IN search of a wedge issue in the election campaign, Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen soldiers on to out-do the New Democrats on law and order. But on Sunday, his promised reforms slipped from a get-tough agenda into the bizarre. Mr. McFadyen pledged a Tory government would deny legal aid to anyone previously convicted of drug trafficking, benefiting from the proceeds of crime or being part of a criminal organization. As a lawyer, Mr. McFadyen should know he cannot wield that kind of power over the courts. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees access to counsel, among a long list of fundamental rights for the accused. These rights protect an individual (and, by extension, the people) from the power of the state and the arbitrary application of law. Successive Canadian court rulings have enunciated the necessity of state-funded counsel for those who cannot afford a lawyer when charged with a serious offence. Further, in R v. Rowbotham in 1988, an Ontario appeal court upheld a judge's power to order that a state-paid lawyer be appointed to ensure a fair trial, even if the accused was denied legal aid. Mr. McFadyen's automatic denial for some accused would, as the NDP noted, merely waste the court's time. The Tory leader is grandstanding for short-term political gain. Those seeking legal aid assistance are put to a means test to determine their ability to pay for a lawyer. Mr. McFadyen's one-strike-you're-out regime would leave a college student previously convicted of selling dope on his own, indigent or not, if he should be charged subsequently with murder. It can gall taxpayers to finance the defence of proven drug dealers and gangsters -- particularly if their lawyers draw out the trial and enlarge the bill with fruitless charter challenges. But a legal aid system is the price of ensuring a fair trial, a basic right in a liberal democratic society. Mr. McFadyen's announcement was coincidental to the jury conviction Sunday of Ian Grant, a Hells Angels member, who was found guilty of eight serious charges, including drug trafficking, extortion and possession of the proceeds of crime. Grant was acquitted of participating in a criminal organization. That conviction extends an accused's sentence, but requires a high threshold of proof. Politically inspired to get tough on bikers, it has had small success in Canada and none in Manitoba. Ian Grant is likely to get a lengthy sentence. His case shows that the public is served best by good police work and solid evidence (even when the chief witness is untrustworthy). Mr. McFadyen would like to find short-cuts, pandering to a perspective and playing on the impatience of some. Cutting crooks off legal aid is a cheap sound-bite that aims to weaken the administration of a justice system designed to work in everyone's interest. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman