PRISONERS' MOVE TO CANADA SHOULD BE OK'D, COURT RULES

Safety Minister Wrong to Block Transfer From U.S. for Two Drug
Dealers, Judge Says

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews acted unreasonably when he refused
to allow two Canadians imprisoned in the United States to serve out
their sentences in Canada, a Federal Court judge has ruled.

In two decisions posted to the Federal Court website Thursday,
Justice James O'Reilly overturned Toews' rejection of applications
under the International Transfer of Offenders Act filed by Montreal
native Franco Tangorra and Tomaso Villano, of Richmond Hill, Ont.
Both men were arrested by American authorities for trying to traffic
in or import large quantities of the drug ecstasy.

Tangorra mailed 30,000 units of ecstasy, concealed in motorcycle
helmets, to an undercover agent. He was arrested in 2007 when he
tried to collect payment and is now serving a sentence of seven years
and three months in a U.S. prison. He is due for release in 2014.

Villano and an accomplice were caught in a New York state parking lot
in 2006 with two garbage bags containing more than 100,000 ecstasy
pills. His sentence runs until October, 2012.

Tangorra had no previous criminal record, and Villano's only other
conviction was for failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
Tangorra's file included a supportive letter from his MP and a
declaration from his wife that he was a good husband and father.

In rejecting the two applications, Toews disregarded evidence
presented by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) that neither
Tangorra nor Villano was likely to re-offend and that their transfers
would pose no threat to Canada's security.

According to O'Reilly's written decisions, CSC said both men have
social and family ties in Canada. If not transferred, CSC told Toews,
they'd be deported to Canada at the end of their sentences and would
not be subject to any supervision or control.

The rationale for transferring offenders is that it will aid in their
rehabilitation and reintegration to society. "Our argument is that
public safety is better served by the transfer," said John Conroy,
the Abbotsford, B.C. lawyer who represents both Tangorra and Villano.

"If a person isn't transferred, then they'll be deported free and
clear, without any restriction," Conroy said. "A gradual release we
know is far more in the public interest in terms of public safety."

O'Reilly's intervention doesn't clear the way for Tangorra and
Villano to return to Canada, however. Instead, their cases will go
back to Toews for reconsideration. Conroy said re-hearings - which
typically occur within 60 days - are usually successful, but not always.

When Liberal governments were in power, they routinely approved
transfer applications. But in a policy shift that has created a
diplomatic flap with the United States, Conservative ministers have
begun to reject a majority of them.

According to CSC data, the minister of public safety approved just 27
per cent of 89 transfer applications he considered in 2009-10, the
latest year for which figures are publicly available. Nearly
two-thirds of denials over the past decade involve people convicted
of drug offences.

After judicial review, the Federal Court has been overturning a
significant number of more recent ministerial denials. But the
government's omnibus crime bill, which received third reading in the
House of Commons earlier this month, broadens the grounds under which
the minister can deny transfer requests in future.