AG MEETS WITH LOCALS ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Pot farms, meth labs and the age of consent were pressing topics
Tri-City law enforcement agencies discussed with Canada's attorney
general at a private meeting Thursday.

Vic Toews said he was pleased with the co-operation local groups are
giving to policing and understanding the causes of crime.

"Here is a very-well organized, co-ordinated approach to developing
responses to crime," Toews said after the meeting at Coquitlam city
hall. "That, to me, is very encouraging because, if we're going to
beat this problem, it's going to have to be in co-operation with local
authorities and citizens."

Representatives invited to give three-minute presentations to the
justice minister included Diane Sowden (Children of the Street
Society), Supt. Peter Lepine (Coquitlam RCMP), Chief Const. Paul
Shrive (Port Moody Police), Dave Allen (Fraser-Burrard Community
Justice) and Doug Stead, a Port Coquitlam businessman who's
championing improved legislation on child porn and, like Sowden,
raising the age of consent to 16.

Stead found Toews' response to Tri-City interests "genuine," although
he said the proposed mandatory minimum sentences are "not hard enough"
for violent sexual predators in Canada.

The sexual exploitation of children, he said, is a global issue that's
interconnected. "There are varying rules around the world where the
forces of goods aren't in sync but the forces of evil are," Stead
said. "Vic Toews is aware that is the single most dangerous thing
that's on the horizon for democracy."

PoCo Fire/Rescue assistant fire chief John Kenyon also spoke about the
dangers of marijuana grow operations and meth labs in the community.
"The frustration that we see are that people are almost encouraged to
get into production," he said. "There's so much money... It's just so
attractive, and [the Conservatives] are putting bills forward [to
address] that."

Last year, Kenyon took then-justice critic Toews to the Coquitlam
River to talk to meth addicts. That kind of "grassroots" approach by
an MP to seeing the problem first hand made Kenyon sit up. "I was
impressed then that somebody in his position will go right to the
bottom," he said.

Toews said he has also heard from RCMP and city police forces across
Canada about the need to share information.