mandatory minimums

By: Chris Hayes, Cape Breton Post

Dan MacRury, who was scheduled to speak to the Senate committee on legal and constitutional affairs today on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association, says the federal government’s Safe Streets and Communities Act takes Canada’s justice system in the wrong direction by focusing on mandatory minimum sentences, while taking away sentencing options for judges.
“We have people who come before the courts who are suffering from mental illness,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

MacRury said the crime bill will mean more people with mental illnesses end up behind bars. Read more »

BY JANET BAGNALL, THE GAZETTE

During the last federal election campaign, the Conservative Party promised once more it would get tough on crime, even though Canada’s crime rate is at a historic low. It promised again it would crack down on young offenders – naming them publicly, imposing longer sentences and sending more of them to adult prison – even though youth crime, too, is down.

“Twice before these crime bills died on the order paper when an election was called,” said Judith Laurier, communications officer with the Quebec Association of Youth Centres. “We thought, ‘Another narrow escape.’ ” Read more »

By: Dan Lett, Winnipeg Free Press

Perhaps it's time for the get-tough-on-crime advocates to put their money where their mouths are.

The Conservative government's much-anticipated omnibus crime bill -- a conglomeration of tweaks to the justice system that, at its core, includes more and longer sentences -- is currently before the Senate and, thanks to the Tory majority, it is destined to become law sometime this year.

The provinces are freaked out about the cost of enforcing the new and longer sentences; Ontario alone has estimated the cost of enforcement and incarceration at $1 billion per year, and Quebec expects to spend more than $500 million to build more jails. With provincial treasuries reeling from the recession, this is horrible timing. Read more »

CJCD Mix 100 News

Yellowknife, N.W.T. -  Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley wants to know what the GNWT's plans are for Bill C-10, the federal government's omnibus crime bill.

To date, there has been no report of any kind about what the bill will cost if it passes through the House of Commons, but Bromley is hopeful there could be some answers from the GNWT on the matter.

He put the question to Justice minister Glen Abernethy Feb. 8 at the Legislative Assembly.

"I'm looking to the minister, the minister of justice, to find out what those costs are. When will they be here? When will they bring that [to] committee? Is it ready now?" Read more »

By: Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Media reports that some pot growers will face harsher mandatory-minimum sentences than child rapists under the Conservative government's new crime bill were enough to catch the attention of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

A request by The Canadian Press for cabinet records on the controversial omnibus crime legislation turned up a single document — much of it blacked out under a broad, discretionary exemption in the Access to Information Act.

The Oct. 11, 2011, "memorandum for the prime minister" says its purpose was to inform Harper about the controversial sentencing provisions "in light of recent criticism in the media." Read more »

Editorial, The Toronto Star

For 20 years there’s been a troubling disconnect between the reality of crime in Canada and people’s fear of it. The persistent — though mistaken — view that crime is on the rise has allowed governments to push through ever more “tough-on-crime” laws.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have taken this to extremes. The omnibus Bill C-10 before the Senate right now will foist enormous and unnecessary costs on taxpayers.

Yet in reality violent crime is down. Property crime is down. Other crimes are down. Crime is at its lowest since 1973. Read more »

CBC News

The corrections officers’ union voiced its opposition to the much-discussed omnibus crime legislation Bill C-10, which they say puts more people in jail, without addressing inmate mental issues.

The president of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) spoke Thursday at a gathering to coincide with the third day of justice ministers meetings in Charlottetown.

The NUPGE said one in three prisoners have mental health issues, which they say endangers corrections officers and prisoners themselves.

The union said the problem will just get worse when C-10 becomes law. Read more »

By Bradley Bouzane, National Post

Federal justice and public safety ministers on Thursday touted the progress they made over three days of meetings with provincial and territorial representatives, but danced around the total cost of new federal crime legislation that is expected to place a heavy financial burden on the provinces.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said amendments to the Criminal Code will be explored to crack down on more serious offences — including home invasions and knife crimes — but would not specify how much cost will be associated with Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act. Read more »

BY SARAH SACHELI, THE WINDSOR STAR

Despite building two new jails in the province, including one in Windsor, there won't be enough cells in Ontario for inmates convicted under the federal government's new crime bill, Ontario's Community Safety and Correctional Minister told The Star Wednesday.

Madeleine Meilleur said she planned to make a pitch to the federal government later in the day for $1 billion - the estimated cost of another jail that could house 1,000 inmates. She said the province should not be burdened with the costly consequences of the Safe Streets and Communities Act, commonly referred to as Bill C-10.

The bill, expected to become law in March, will set new mandatory minimum sentences for things like weapons offences and drug possession. Read more »

By: James Wilt, Fast Forward Weekly

Stephen Harper loves aboriginals.

At least, that’s what his government wants us to believe. How could the recent donation of 22 modular homes to Attawapiskat First Nation — which came neatly packaged with a third-party manager of funds and a reiteration by Harper that his government isn’t to blame for the brutal poverty of the reserve — be viewed as anything less than adoration? Read more »