JUST A DISTRACTION?

To The Editor:

New Brunswick Justice Minister Mike Murphy -- of all people -- should
know that the courts take a dim constitutional view of the provinces
entering into the federal criminal power realm ("Province pushes for
stronger drug laws," Dec. 17).

Suspending someone's driver's licence for a drug conviction, as
California tried in the 1980s, is, despite his assertion, not only
outside the province's power, but appears to be a cynical move by the
Graham government to deflect attention from the public outrage over
the sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec.

Shame.

T.J. Meehan,

Kingston, Ont.