TWO-TIER SYSTEM OFFENSIVE: CHAIR OF ABORIGINAL CAUCUS

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg South MP Rod Bruinooge says he's disgusted with
Liberal amendments made by the Senate to exclude aboriginal offenders
from a bill that established mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences.

Bill C-15 had proposed that a person found guilty of trafficking who
had previously been convicted of a drug-related offence within the
prior decade would receive a minimum prison sentence of one year while
someone with a prior record who was convicted of growing five or more
marijuana plants would receive six months of mandatory jail time.

Liberal senators, aided by four independents, passed an amendment
Wednesday upping the pot plant number to 200 while handing judges
discretion at applying the mandatory minimum to aboriginal offenders.
The mandatory minimum prison terms would also now only be handed out
if offenders were previously sentenced to a year or more in jail.

Bruinooge, who chairs the Harper government's aboriginal caucus, said
mandatory minimum exemptions for aboriginal offenders could create a
two-tiered legal system.

"It's definitely the wrong approach to justice to create, essentially,
two different levels of sentencing based on race," Bruinooge said. "As
an aboriginal person, I just see it as offensive."

In a prepared statement, Liberal Senator Charlie Watt said the
amendment provides the same treatment for aboriginal offenders as
currently already exists. He said the amendment ensures similar
consideration will be given when sentencing aboriginal people under
the Act.

"There are places in Canada where aboriginals make up 80% of the
inmate population of prisons," Watt wrote. "These numbers demonstrate
that cultural sensitivity and a judge's discretion, which are already
being applied under the Criminal Code, are certainly not a
'get-out-of-jail-free card.'"

Treasury Board President Vic Toews said the Senate amendments gut the
Tory legislation.

"We're very concerned about the Liberal senators removing a
substantive part of the bill," said Toews, who was particularly upset
about the amendment to up the number of pot plants to which the
mandatory sentence would apply.

"What this does in fact is ensure that drug dealers and grow-op
operators could continue to go on as before. This is a serious
concern, especially in urban areas where these grow-ops take place in
residential premises and are a danger to firefighters and police."

Toews said he will encourage Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to
reinstate the bill to what Parliament originally passed and send it
back to the Senate.