IS THERE A DOUBLE STANDARD AT WORK ON CRIME BILL?

To The Editor:

I read with interest the letter in the Times & Transcript of Dec.18
from my Conservative colleague Rob Moore on the proposed amendment to
Bill C 15, regulating certain drugs and substances.

In it he accused the Liberal Senators of wanting to water down the
bill's impact.

The Senate had promised to carry out a critical examination of the
bill.

The members of the committee heard from an assortment of experts and
representatives of various organizations who argued that the new
legislation would encourage drug lords to recruit more street-level
dealers, and that it would be these dealers who suffered the
consequences of minimum sentencing, not the drug lords.

As Vice-Chair of the Justice Committee, I have worked hard for
progress on this issue.

The provinces and the federal government must unite their efforts to
find an effective solution.

Mr. Moore neglected to mention that the amendment to Bill C 15 was
supported by Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, who is, need I say, a
Conservative, and who in 2002 recommended legalizing the consumption
of marijuana by adults.

Eleven Conservative MPs abstained from voting on Bill C
15.

And all the while the Conservatives have been cutting funding for the
country's police forces and correctional services, but they dare to
accuse the Liberals of being "soft" on crime.

Is there a double standard at work here, by any chance?

Brian Murphy,

MP

Moncton--Riverview--Dieppe