HARPER PLAN 'REPUGNANT ELECTIONEERING'

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Don't Work, Local Criminal Trial Lawyers
Group Says

EDMONTON - The Harper government's promise of mandatory jail sentences
for drug pushers is repugnant electioneering, says the Edmonton
Criminal Trial Lawyers Association.

The federal government knows through its own studies that mandatory
minimum sentences don't work, association president Brian Hurley said
Friday.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who unveiled plans Thursday for minimum
sentences, is smart enough to know the strategy doesn't work, Hurley
said.

Harper announced his government will introduce legislation this fall
to impose minimum jail terms for making and trafficking dangerous
drugs such as methamphetamines and cocaine. He has suggested the
defeat of major government bills may trigger an election.

"This is a man in full election mode who would like nothing better
than his government to be brought down on a piece of legislation for
mandatory minimum drug sentences," Hurley said.

"This is about a callous, callous effort by Mr. Harper to win votes
and get a majority," he said. "To do something as significant as to
change the criminal code in a way you know is not going to be helpful,
for pure electioneering, is just repugnant."

Hurley said studies for Corrections Canada have shown that imposing
minimum terms can harden small-time criminals, making them a bigger
danger when they get out. Minimums also means jails will get more crowded.

"Most of the drug dealers I encounter are addicts who are doing small
street-level sales to help their addiction," he said. "The smart
big-time drug dealers aren't getting caught."

He said judges impose stiff sentences on the few "big fish" who are
convicted. In the case of addicts who are caught dealing small amounts
of drugs the courts tend to impose treatment orders.

As part of his anti-drug strategy, Harper also promised measures to
help people get off drugs. The prime minister said about two-thirds of
the $63.8-million in funding for the strategy will go towards
prevention and treatment.

Hurley said the government should break the drug-abuse cycle by
providing more support for early-childhood development and social services.

The promise of minimum prison terms comes as federal prosecutors, who
handle drug prosecutions in Alberta, are negotiating for higher pay.
Most of the 2,900 federal prosecutors across Canada were unionized
last year, under the Association of Justice Counsel.

Association president Patrick Jette said prosecutors' pay trails
compensation rates among provincial prosecutors and the amounts that
lawyers earn in the private sector. As a result, the Public
Prosecutions Service of Canada risks losing senior prosecutors and
being less able to recruit replacements.

Edmonton is short five federal prosecutors, Jette added.