WHERE DOES MP STAND ON CRIME?

To The Editor:

A Canwest News story ran recently in several papers across the
country. The subject of the article was new Conservative legislation
that would require mandatory jail time for drug pushers who sell to
school kids. Brian Murphy was quoted repeatedly as saying "the jury
is still out" on whether the legislation "merits Liberal support."

The Conservative's Bill C-15 clearly targets serious repeat offenders
and seeks to protect our children.

It addresses trafficking or production for a criminal organization
and the use of weapons or violence in the commission of an offence.
It also addresses those who sell and produce drugs while in prison
and those who bring drugs into prisons.

The proposed law is designed to protect teenagers from drug pushers
who corner them in school, or places like arcades and malls, where
they might otherwise hang out safely. The Conservatives also acted in
this legislation to protect minors from being exploited as "mules"
for drug pushers seeking to avoid adult penalties.

Further in the bill, aggravating factors are listed such as creating
a public safety hazard (e.g. meth labs blowing up entire houses) and
installing booby-traps to protect drug stashes and grow-ops. There is
also special attention paid to those who cause risk of injury to
children while engaged in drug operations.

It is hard to understand why Brian Murphy would reserve judgment on
these efforts to protect children from the scourge of drugs and
gangs. He told the Canwest reporter that he wanted to "narrow the
reach" of the bill; exactly which provisions would he eliminate?

Perhaps we can find a clue in his colleague Keith Martin's proposal
(Bill C-359) to decriminalize marijuana in amounts less than seven
pounds or three kilograms. Liberals have tried to arouse sympathy in
the past for the stereotypical teenager caught with one or two
joints, but seven pounds of pot is one massive toke! When Michael
Ignatieff was asked by a pot activist recently if he would act to
legalize marijuana, he refused to answer and deferred the question to
the Policy Convention in Vancouver.

All this hedging sends the wrong message to those who get rich off
the illegal production and sales of drugs. It also tells our children
that, when they face intimidation by these thugs, no one is there to
protect them. It's time that Liberal lawmakers quit playing politics
and stand up for the safety of our most vulnerable.

The proposed Conservative bill targets the dangerous production of
meth, as well as marijuana grow-ops primarily over 200 plants. It
specifies that possession penalties are directed against "the purpose
of trafficking."

Why is the "jury still out?" Why does Mr. Murphy want to weaken this
bill with amendments? We deserve to know publicly that our MP stands
firmly against the drug trade, even if it means standing with the
Conservatives. The safety of our children is not an issue that merits
being evasive.

Robert Snider, Moncton