HARPER URGES TOUGHER YOUTH SENTENCING

Ease Name Ban; 'Determined To Crack Down On Crime'

Stephen Harper announced another plank in his justice platform
yesterday, telling a Saskatoon audience that a Conservative government
would define 30 offences that would be ineligible for house arrest,
including serious property crimes such as robbery and arson, weapons
offences, home invasion, drug trafficking and kidnapping.

"Making criminals serve prison time for serious crimes is an important
part of our plan to reduce crime," Mr. Harper said, a day after
pledging to clamp down on young offenders.

In the last Parliament, the Liberals, New Democratic Party and Bloc
Quebecois blocked an earlier attempt by the Conservative government to
limit eligibility for house arrest, also known as conditional sentencing.

A senior Conservative source said the proposed restrictions would be
handled as a confidence measure, to underline how important the
Conservatives consider them to be.

"When all is said and done, 'soft on crime' doesn't work," the
Conservative leader said. "We are determined to crack down on crime,
whether it is by youth or anybody else."

Campaigning in Burnaby, B. C., Liberal leader Stephane Dion condemned
Mr. Harper's anti-crime agenda, especially his pledge to lift the
publication ban on the names of teens as young as 14 who are convicted
of violent crimes.

Mr. Dion called the measure "U. S. Republican-minded" and said Canada
needs a more progressive government to tackle the roots of crime.

The Conservatives, he said, "want to import in Canada false solutions,
simplistic ideas that did not work there, to the point that Stephen
Harper, who is at war with all institutions, now wants to be at war
with the Supreme Court of Canada, who has said that you cannot do
these kind of things."

The top court ruled in May that young offenders have a constitutional
right to a separate and more lenient justice system.

By a 5-4 margin, the court struck down provisions of the Youth
Criminal Justice Act that presumed that youths who have committed
serious crimes will be treated as adults unless they can convince a
judge otherwise.

Mr. Harper remained defiant, saying his approach was supported by the
"vast majority of police and law-enforcement officials," as well as
most Canadians.

"Obviously, some people don't agree with our approach to criminal
justice. Those are the people who have advised soft-on-crime policies
for 30 or 40 years. And yes, we believe they are wrong."

Mr. Harper once again suggested he would tolerate no changes or delays
from the opposition to his legislative package on crime.

A senior Conservative source said the restrictions on house arrest
would be considered confidence measures, meaning their defeat in
Parliament would send Canadians back to the polls.