LAW AND ORDER CHANGES UP IN THE AIR

No Evidence Tougher Drug Laws Will Reduce Crime: STU Professor

FREDERICTON - Although some unexpected political twists may have
delayed the implementation of tougher drug laws at both the federal
and provincial levels, a New Brunswick criminology professor says the
changes the governments have proposed are ill-advised and unlikely to
be effective.

"It looks good, it sounds good, but it's a very political move, not a
very smart one," says Michael Boudreau, associate professor and head
of the department of criminology and criminal justice at St. Thomas University.

In a recent interview with the Times & Transcript, then-Attorney
General Mike Murphy said the government was studying the idea of
suspending driving privileges of people who use their car to commit
drug-related crimes. Ontario has also moved in that direction and
Murphy said he expected such legislation to be tabled in New
Brunswick within months.

That measure was part of what he described as the province's ongoing
"law and order" approach to crime.

"There's a number of other things as well that will be forthcoming
that strengthen and assist the federal law and put people on notice
in our neighbourhoods and communities that we will not tolerate
intimidation of our vulnerable," Murphy said, adding that a new law
was about to come into effect that would allow the seizure of
vehicles or property used in such crimes.

He described the plan as being complementary to a new federal bill
that, if it becomes law, would require mandatory prison sentences for
drug crimes. That bill was passed by the House, but has been
watered-down in the Liberal-majority Senate.

Murphy stood in the New Brunswick Legislature last month to call for
the changes to be undone, but Boudreau says such an approach hasn't
worked elsewhere.

"The whole thrust behind mandatory minimum sentences is the idea of
deterrence," Boudreau says.

"There's no proof that these things work. All of the studies, both in
the United States and Canada, clearly indicate that mandatory minimum
sentences have done nothing to stop the flow of drugs or the drug trade."

Murphy recognized in December that there is evidence against the
aggressive strategy, but said the public was demanding such changes.

"There are those that argue that they help. There are those that
argue that they don't help," he said.

"But the fact is, once again, if the people of Canada say this is
what they want ... they run the show. The electorate of Canada are
the clients of the people who sit in the provincial and federal Parliaments."

But Boudreau argues that both governments are misreading public
opinion on the issue.

"There isn't much reason for Canadians to be fearful of crime. That's
what politicians, especially federal politicians think, but when you
look at the polls, crime is down in terms of priorities. The economy,
the environment are always ranked higher than law and order," he
says, adding the only thing the move would do is create a backlog in
Canadian courts and prisons.

"I think it would probably double the number of people (in the system)."

It remains unclear what will happen to the planned provincial
legislation in the wake of Murphy's resignation from cabinet on
Monday. Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe MLA Bernard LeBlanc succeeds
Murphy as minister of justice and consumer affairs, while Social
Development Minister Kelly Lamrock has assumed the duties of attorney general.

The Progressive Conservatives also expressed support for Murphy's
reforms in December.

In addition, the federal bill died with Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's decision last week to prorogue Parliament, but it could be
reintroduced later in the year -- after potential Senate appointments
would essentially create a Conservative majority in the upper chamber.

Boudreau says it is important that judges retain their discretion
when sentencing offenders.

"Drugs are just too much of a lucrative business, so the deterrence
element isn't going to work and it hasn't worked," he says.

"I'm not saying we should treat all these offenders the same way, but
we have to rethink our approach to this. I don't see any positives."

In 2008, about 66,000 Canadians were charged with drug-related
offences, about 1,029 of which were in New Brunswick, according to
Statistics Canada.