Pubdate: Tue, 06 Mar 2012
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Gloria Galloway

TWEAKED SLIGHTLY BY SENATE, TORY CRIME BILL GOES BEFORE MPS A FINAL TIME

The Conservative government's omnibus crime bill has returned from 
the Senate to the House of Commons with amendments that will allow 
terrorism victims and their families to sue state sponsors of terror.

The amendments are similar to those proposed by Liberal MP Irwin 
Cotler when the bill was before the Commons justice committee.

They were rejected by the Conservative MPs on that committee and, by 
the time the government decided they were important additions to the 
legislation, it was too late to make changes to the bill in the 
Commons. So it was up to Tories in the Senate, specifically Senator 
Bob Runciman, to make the amendments.

The remaining 17 changes suggested by opposition senators were 
rejected, including a proposal to increase from six to 20 the number 
of marijuana plants that someone could be caught growing before 
facing a mandatory minimum sentence of six months.

The Liberal senators also argued the legislation will be particularly 
harsh on aboriginal offenders who already occupy a disproportionate 
number of cells in federal and provincial corrections facilities. But 
the Conservatives would not be swayed.

Mr. Runciman's amendments mean the opposition MPs in the Commons who 
take issue with many aspects of the bill will have one more day to 
debate its perceived flaws before it can be passed into law. And the 
NDP made it clear Tuesday they will take advantage of the opportunity.

Jack Harris, a Newfoundland MP, told reporters his party will once 
again outline the "errors and mistakes and the wrong-headed approach 
that this government is taking towards our justice system."

Rather than being tough on crime, Mr. Harris said, the legislation is 
tough on people who run afoul of the law. It imposes a number of new 
mandatory minimum sentences which have not proved to act as a 
deterrent, he said.

The experience in the United States, Mr. Harris said, has shown this 
kind of "punitive" approach costs a lot of money and fills up prisons 
but does little to fight crime.

There are some portions of the bill the New Democrats support, 
including mandatory minimum sentences for sexual predators, he said. 
"But the general use of mandatory minimums for all sorts of offences 
is inappropriate."

The bill also takes away the right to a pardon, calling it a 
suspension of a criminal record, Mr. Harris said. "That is virtually 
meaningless out there in the real world," he added.

And the Conservatives are changing the basis of the youth criminal 
justice system, which was aimed at rehabilitation, he said. This has 
provoked strong denunciation from criminal justice experts and the 
province of Quebec.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told the Commons on Tuesday that tough 
sentences do not create criminals, they keep the "existing ones in 
prison for a more appropriate period of time. We want to make sure 
there is not a revolving door of justice."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom