ALBERTA SEEKS WIDER LIMITS ON BAIL

Alberta's justice minister is calling on the federal government to
expand the roster of crimes subject to tougher bail
restrictions.

Speaking at the Alberta Gang Crime Summit in Calgary on Thursday,
Justice Minister Alison Redford said people charged with drug-related
offences should be subject to reverse onus provisions that place the
burden on the accused to prove why they shouldn't be held in jail
pending trial.

Last year, the federal government amended the Criminal Code to shift
the burden of proof onto people accused of using a firearm to commit
serious offences such as sexual assault and robbery, as well as people
charged with firearms trafficking and smuggling, or committing an
indictable offence while under a firearms prohibition.

"We want to see the same with trafficking of drugs," Redford
said.

The province also wants the federal government to impose a reverse
onus provision on offenders who violate their court-ordered conditions
and commit additional offences while out on bail.

The gang summit is intended to bring together people from different
fields to combat gangs, and Redford hailed last year's bail reforms as
a way that collaboration between different levels of government can
have a positive effect.

In Alberta, police agencies wanted tougher legislation and the
province responded last fall with amendments to the Victims
Restitution and Compensation Act, Redford said.

The change allows authorities to use the civil courts, which have a
lower burden of proof than criminal courts, to seize assets from
suspected criminals.

The property seized so far includes vehicles and homes worth a total
of $1.75 million that have been restrained by the courts, and may
ultimately be forfeited to the Crown.

"The law does make a difference," Redford said.

Forfeited property is either returned to victims or used to pay for
programs used to benefit victims of crime.

Solicitor General Fred Lindsay said the law removes one of the core
motives behind organized crime: profit.

"$1.75 million is a pretty good hit to those folks who work outside
the law."

But a criminologist cautioned the changes are weakening the principles
the criminal justice system was founded on, such as the presumption of
innocence,

"It is certainly chipping away at people's rights," said Carolyn
Greene, an assistant professor at Athabasca University.

The moves resonate with a public frustrated by crime, but Greene said
politicians are "avoiding the real issues," by not placing greater
emphasis on measures that could prevent crime or address its root causes.

Both provincial ministers added, however, that police and courts
provide only part of the solution to Alberta's gang problem: the
community has a role to play in education, prevention and early
intervention for youths at risk of joining gangs.

"We can't arrest our way out of this problem," Lindsay said.