CRIME BILL TO RAISE CONCERNS IN 2012

Rob Nicholson Braces for Provincial Wrath Over Controversial Crime Bill

OTTAWA - Canadian jail cells are not going to be brimming with
teenagers and college kids who share pot with their pals, according
to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who maintains one of the most
contentious facets of his omnibus crime bill has been grossly misrepresented.

Mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana production are designed to
target organized crime, gangs and grow-ops, he said in a year-end
interview with Postmedia News.

They don't apply to young offenders and even new provisions that aim
to penalize adults who are trafficking drugs around schools mean
perpetrators would have to be caught with an "eight-pound joint" to
be saddled with a mandatory minimum under the Safe Streets and
Communities Act, he argued.

"For the most part the laws with respect to marijuana aren't changed
but they are changed with respect to trafficking associated with
organized crime, gangs and grow-ops for the purpose of trafficking," he said.

"I want to make that very clear because it was not clear in some of
the criticisms. If somebody was thrown in jail under this bill, they
were in the business of trafficking."

It's been a particularly acrimonious year for Nicholson, who has come
under fire for bundling nine vastly different bills into one and
pushing it through Parliament with his party's new majority. 2012
isn't expected to be any easier.

In January, Nicholson will meet with his provincial counterparts in
what will undoubtedly be a difficult session.

Ontario and Quebec both have refused to pick up additional costs
associated with the C-10 crime bill.

Quebec's justice minister also recently left Ottawa fuming after the
federal government refused to consider amendments aimed at preserving
Quebec's approach to criminal justice, which favours rehabilitation
and reintegration, particularly where youth are concerned.

An old government cost breakdown associated solely with amendments to
the Youth Criminal Justice Act - which was among the pieces of
legislation wrapped into the crime bill after the government failed
to pass it in previous minority Parliaments - reported incarceration
levels would increase by 33 per cent at a cost of $717 million over
five years. And half of that would be absorbed by the provinces.

Nicholson, however, has stood by newer figures that suggest the
entire omnibus law would cost the federal government $78.6 million
over five years.

The government has not speculated on costs to the provinces but
Nicholson knows exactly what he'll say to his counterparts when the
subject comes up.

"One of the things that I will reiterate is that we have acted on a
number of the measures that they have proposed to us," he said,
noting many of the changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as well
as an earlier decision to eliminate two-for-one sentencing, were
based on their advice.

"I say to them many of the costs associated with C-10 will be borne
by the federal government with respect to the prosecution of drugs,
which is a major component of this, and that the federal government
has increased its allotment to the provinces every single year we
have been in government, most recently by $2.4 billion."

That said, the cost to provinces could be significant since they are
responsible for the administration of justice.

Certain provisions in C-10 - like the elimination of house arrest for
repeat and serious offences, including those punishable by a minimum
term of imprisonment - are likely to translate into many more people
serving provincial time.

Although missing data for Quebec and the Northwest Territories,
figures obtained by Postmedia News from the Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics indicate some 11,634 individuals received a
conditional sentence in 2009-10.

According to the figures, 2,302 were sentenced to house arrest for
drug trafficking, 205 for sexual assault and 1,042 for major assault.
While it's impossible to know the exact nature of the crimes from
these statistics, these are the sorts of infractions for which house
arrest may no longer be available as an option.

Statistics suggest it costs the federal government $323 a day, or
nearly $118,000, to incarcerate an inmate for a year, while the cost
to the provinces is, on average, $172 a day or more than $62,800 a
year, according to 2008-09 figures.

By comparison, it costs the Ontario government, $5.12 per day - about
$1,869 a year - to supervise an inmate under house arrest.

The omnibus crime bill is poised to pass in early 2012 and critics,
like Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, have argued the new year could be
filled with numerous court challenges under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, as some of its provisions, he believes, are
"constitutionally suspect."

Which raises another of Nicholson's headaches from the past year. The
government has had an opportunity to appoint a number of new justices
to the Supreme and Federal Courts and has come under fire for its choices.

Supreme Court Justice Michael Moldaver, for instance, was forced to
defend himself for comments made about defence lawyers who mount
frivolous charter applications.

Meanwhile, a recent Ottawa Citizen investigation found Tory-appointed
Federal Court judges were significantly less likely to overturn
decisions made by government officers and tribunals regarding refugee
claims and deportations.

Nicholson dismissed any suggestion of favouritism in judicial
appointments. "We appoint judges who are competent and demonstrate
legal excellence and they are all individuals who have been approved
by the judicial advisory committees," he said.

- - Postmedia News