SENATORS AND ANTI-PROHIBITIONISTS TAKE MINISTER TO TASK

Delays in passing the legislation are not the fault of the Senate,
some writers say, and, in any case, the bill is flawed, others say

Re: Senate delay on drug bill risks lives: Justice minister, July 23:

I was startled to read that federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson had
slammed the Senate for not pushing through legislation implementing
mandatory jail terms for drug producers. Kim Bolan's article quoted
him as saying he had been calling on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff
to "do something this summer about the holdup we have in the Canadian
Senate." The implication, of course, is that the Liberals in the
Senate have somehow delayed passage of this bill.

It would be useful for the minister to know the facts. Bill C-15 was
introduced in the House of Commons Feb. 27. It passed the House on
third reading June 8. Incidentally, the Liberals supported it.

Clearly, the minister was in no great hurry to have it passed and,
indeed, a previous iteration of this bill, C-26, died on the order
paper with the calling of the last election.

Bill C-15 was given first reading in the Senate on June 9. Its
Conservative sponsor, Senator Consiglio Di Nino, addressed it for the
first time June 22, the day before the Senate adjourned for the
summer. Clearly, he was in no great hurry, either.

If anyone stalled the bill, it was the Conservatives. Nicholson was
either ignorant of the facts or wilfully chose to ignore them in
making the statement he did. In either event, he should be ashamed of
himself.

Yoine Goldstein

Former Liberal Senator,

Montreal