Pubdate: Wed, 14 Mar 2012
Source: Alberni Valley Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Alberni Valley Times
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/albernivalleytimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4043

QUEBEC WILL SOFTEN EFFECTS OF C-10

Drainville Said Bill a Series of Measures That Make a 'Case For
Quebec's Independence'

One day after the Harper government adopted Bill C-10, its
controversial tough-on-crime legislation, Quebec Justice Minister
Jean-marc Fournier announced on Tuesday measures soften the effects of
the federal law on Quebec's youth justice system.

And Fournier, who last November argued passionately against C-10
before a Commons justice and human rights committee, mused over just
how permanent the more contentious elements of omnibus bill would be.

"It is not because a law is adopted that it will be there for a
century," he said. "When we share our expertise, our experience ...
others will follow and change will come to C-10.

"It's not for a politician sitting in an assembly to establish the
sanction for a crime. That was the kind of justice many centuries
(ago). We've got a system where we have judges, we have prosecutors,
we have lawyers. They know the facts. Not all cases are the same and
they've got to have the tools to adapt justice to the case."

The tools Fournier will provide for Quebec's justice system include:

* Publishing the name of a juvenile charged with a serious offence only
in "exceptional" circumstances. 

* Using an order in council to allow prosecutors to inform the court of 
their decision not to seek adult sentencing of young offenders age 16 
years and older. C-10 allows the procedure to be applied to young 
offenders 14 and older.

* Creating a drug rehabilitation program that would allow courts an
alternative to a minimum sentence in the case of non-violent crimes.

Fournier repeatedly reminded reporters that while the federal
government could adopt laws, the administration of justice is a
provincial jurisdiction, and Quebec possesses 40 years of experience
in dealing with youth crime, experience based on the idea that
rehabilitation is preferable to imprisonment.

"In Bill C-10, the concept of rehabilitation has been retained, but
its importance has been diminished," he said. "The legal power we have
(as a province) is to add nuance to the manner C-10 is written... to
conserve the idea of longterm protection for the public and to
conserve the concept of rehabilitation."

Fournier reiterated his support for certain sections of C-10, such as
pre-trial detention for young offenders charged with serious crimes.
But he also repeated his concerns that enforcing the legislation will
cost Quebec an additional $80 million annually, while the construction
of new prisons to house the anticipated influx of extra prisoners
created by the law would cost more than $700 million.

In Quebec City, Parti Quebecois member of legislature Bernard
Drainville said C-10 is one of a series of measures by the
Conservative government that make "a very, very strong case for
Quebec's independence."

"It's a defeat for Quebec, it's a defeat for our values," Drainville
told reporters. If Quebec were a country, the law would not apply,
Drainville said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.