TORIES TO TABLE 'THREE STRIKES' LEGISLATION

Bill Would Make It Easier To Declare Criminals Dangerous Offenders

The Conservative government will start rolling out its
crime-and-punishment agenda next week with a bill to make it easier to
designate three-time criminals as dangerous offenders and jail them
indefinitely.

The government will table a Canadian version of a controversial
"three-strikes" law, which exists in some American states, by
proposing that certain offenders who commit three sex or other violent
crimes will be presumed to be dangerous offenders unless they can
convince a judge otherwise.

Opposition parties and other critics decried the coming legislation as
an affront to Canadian values of fair punishment and a violation of
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"It flies right in the face of Canadian criminal justice," said Louise
Botham, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association. "I don't think
it would withstand constitutional scrutiny."

The legislation is one of about 15 justice bills the Conservatives
have lined up to be introduced in the House of Commons in the coming
months as part of an ambitious law-and-order agenda to take to voters
in the next election.

The dangerous-offender legislation, likely to be tabled Tuesday, was
originally expected this week, but it was delayed as the Tories
grappled with last-minute wrangling over whether their proposal could
survive a constitutional challenge, a government insider said.

Justice Minister Vic Toews confirmed yesterday that the Conservatives
will go ahead with a bill, based on an election promise, but he
bristled at comparing it to habitual offender laws in states like
California, where three-time offenders have been handed long prison
terms for such things as shoplifting golf clubs.

"I'm not talking about the three-strikes-you're-out law," he said. "In
the American system, it's an automatic occurrence. There is no
discretion on the part of the judge."

In an interview, he said prosecutors are reluctant to seek
dangerous-offender status and rather than toughening existing laws, he
might opt to work with his provincial counterparts to devise national
standards for when to seek declarations.

As of last year, there were 336 designated dangerous offenders in
Canada.

Ms. Botham said the Conservative proposal could make the list
significantly longer.

"With that kind of legislation, I think there would be constitutional
issues associated with it and I find it frightening, really," she said.

Ms. Botham noted the existing legislation survived an earlier court
challenge on the grounds that it applies only to a small group of
people and there are several hurdles to overcome before a designation
can be made.

Under the current law, the Crown makes an application to a judge, and
the prospective dangerous offender must undergo, among other things, a
psychiatric assessment and a separate dangerous-offender hearing at
which the Crown must prove that indefinite incarceration is the only
way to curtail chronic criminal behaviour.

Joe Comartin, NDP justice critic, said the Conservative proposal is
"basically the same" as the three-strikes laws in the U.S. "where
people have been sent away for stealing a stick of gum."

Derek Lee, the Liberal co-chairman of the justice committee, predicted
the committee, which is busy with five pieces of justice legislation
introduced in the spring, will not have time to consider Conservative
bills tabled this fall, so they will probably die if an election is
called next spring.