TORIES TARGET CODDLED CONS

They Also Aim To Put Brakes On The Gun-Registration
Program

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government will move
swiftly to lock up dangerous cons for longer jail terms and end
Canada's cushy "Club Fed" prison system.

Sketching out plans for a sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice
system, Harper told the Canadian Professional Police Association
yesterday he will also shelve Liberal plans to decriminalize
marijuana and crack down on drug dealers, pot grow-ops and violent
offenders.

A tighter parole system will remove statutory release provisions that
allow most criminals to walk free after serving two-thirds of a sentence.

"If we are to protect our Canadian way of life, we need to crack down
on gun, gang and drug crime," he said. "Canadians are tired of talk.
They want action, and they want it now."

Justice Minister Vic Toews confirmed the government will also follow
through with a campaign pledge to kill the gun registry and free up
more cash for front-line police officers. Admitting there are
"complicating issues" associated with repealing the registry, he
hopes to rally a "working majority" of support from Liberal, NDP and
Bloc Quebecois ranks to abolish it through legislation in Parliament.

"The gun registry has been a dismal failure, a waste of taxpayers'
money and a waste of peace officers' time," he said.

CPPA president Tony Cannavino applauded the bulk of the Tory
proposals, which he believes will boost public safety by ensuring
"serious crime means serious time."

But he vowed to lobby Tory and opposition MPs to block the abolition
of the gun registry, arguing it's a valuable crime-fighting "tool."

"We're going to still have good discussions with the government," he
said.

The Conservative crime-busting plan, which will be dribbled out
piecemeal instead of as an omnibus bill, also pushes mandatory
minimum sentences for drug and gun offences and eliminates house
arrest for violent or repeat offenders.

The Tories will also introduce a "zero-tolerance" policy for child
porn, create a bigger DNA bank for sex offenders and raise the age of
consent for sex to 16 from 14.

As well, they aim to kill the "faint hope clause" that allows
murderers sentenced to life sentences to seek parole after 15 years.