MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES 'NOT EFFECTIVE'

Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler talks a good game.

Mandatory minimum jail sentences?

"Mandatory minimums are neither a deterrent nor effective," Cotler
told The Sun editorial board Tuesday. "I will not be pressured into
legislating because of the politics of the moment -- and I will not
be intimidated into changing my principles. I said they are
wrongheaded as a matter of policy and suspect as a matter of law . .
. They are not effective, even though that is counterintuitive."

Well, that settles that you would think.

Notwithstanding clause? Shouldn't have been in the Constitution in
the first place, in Cotler's view.

An apology for the Chinese head-tax? Why not? Cotler asked. Saying
you're sorry for such an egregious wrong doesn't mean you're legally
liable, the country's top lawman maintained.

Polygamy? It's a crime -- and the criminal prohibition will be found
to be constitutional, the Liberal cabinet minister insisted.

Colour me skeptical.

Cotler arrived in office full of promise after a 1999 byelection. He
was from the same riding and came with the same pedigree as the late
prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau -- a thoughtful, principled law
professor.

But rather than usher in a period of enlightenment, on Cotler's watch
we have witnessed the abuses of overly broad national security
legislation, a justice department that has become a handmaiden to the
U.S. Bush administration and a continued erosion of public faith in
the legal system.

Not that it will affect his re-election.

Mount Royal has been Liberal since 1940 and more than 75 per cent of
voters last time backed Cotler in this federalist stronghold on
Montreal Island. There is scant likelihood Cotler will be personally
defeated -- that's why he was in B.C. this week trying to shore up
the party's fortunes.

The problem I have with Cotler is that as a cabinet minister he has
been ineffectual.

Cotler says mandatory minimum sentences don't work but his own
government brought in 20 such amendments since 1995 and was preparing
to add another handful. The bloodshed in Toronto was priming the pump
for even more.

"I don't believe [such sentences are a] deterrent but there is
another goal of sentencing, denunciation," Cotler backpedalled when
pressed. "And I was asked to send this message . . . [my colleagues]
don't share my view."

So Cotler thinks it's okay to bring in mandatory minimums as a
symbolic message because people will wrongly feel more secure.

I say, what?

Such laws swept the U.S. back in the 1970s but today the evidence is
in and it paints a bleak picture -- they do not work.

In America, they have caused prison populations to skyrocket along
with costs while having a negligible if any effect on crime and addiction.

These statutes take away judicial discretion and rob judges of the
ability to cut some slack to those who deserve a break or send
addicts to less expensive treatment programs.

Instead of standing up and facing down the mob instinct (more than
seven out of 10 Canadians favour mandatory minimums), Cotler has
capitulated. He has done the same on other issues.

He says he wants to protect women and children and that polygamy is a
crime. Yet he's done nothing about the concerns over Bountiful, B.C.,
and the effects that community's radical belief system might be having on kids.

The federal justice department won't take pot seed entrepreneur Marc
Emery to court, but Cotler would stand aside and let the Americans prosecute.

Similarly, he claims he's not a fan of imprisonment.

"You should build soccer fields rather than prisons," Cotler said.
"That's the kind of gang uniforms we need, a culture of prevention,
hope and opportunity."

Cotler, however, was on the verge of introducing a marijuana bill
that would have increased prison terms for guerrilla gardeners and
pot dealers, and jail time is exactly the prescription his party is
offering for ongoing gang violence.

When he's confronted with these apparent contradictions, Cotler
claims it's not his fault.

The political process, in his opinion, frustrates his attempt to
stake out and advocate more nuanced policies.

In the election campaign for instance, he believes the politics of
scandal and corruption have drowned out concerns about women's
rights, the need to protect society's most vulnerable, and the
importance of human rights.

But think about this: Five years ago Ottawa decided to commemorate
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg's efforts in Hungary during the
Second World War to save Jews and other refugees fleeing Nazi oppression.

We made him Canada's first honourary citizen and declared Jan. 17 a
day of remembrance to recognize one of the greatest humanitarians of
the 20th century. Who made note of the occasion Tuesday?

"It worries me that in Canada we lose a sense of these things," Cotler said.

It worries me, too, but I think Cotler should blame his own party and
himself for the plummeting respect for the legal system and the
suspicion with which many Canadians are coming to view "human
rights." They've been in charge.