B.C. CRIME-FIGHTING BUDGET GETS BOOST OF $122-MILLION

Liberals Accused Of Pre-Election Posturing

VANCOUVER -- With an election just four months away, the Liberal government
of British Columbia has approved a program that will invest an additional
$122-million in policing, corrections and the courts.

It is the biggest injection of new funding directed at fighting crime in
the province in more than 20 years, Solicitor-General Rich Coleman said
yesterday after Premier Gordon Campbell announced the initiative.

The money will be allocated over three years. Police and corrections are to
receive $30-million this year, with $5-million allocated for the courts.
Over the next two years, another $66-million has been designated for
police, and $21-million is slotted for the courts.

Mr. Coleman said the money will add 215 RCMP officers throughout the
province, including 80 who will be stationed in rural communities and 32
who will be assigned to native communities. "It means rural communities
will see an increase in policing for the first time in probably a decade,"
Mr. Coleman said.

He added the explosive growth of marijuana-growing operations in British
Columbia, which has earned the province the unenviable title of "Colombia
North," was a big incentive for the government.

"This is the cash flow of organized crime," Mr. Coleman said of the
marijuana trade, in which "B.C. bud" is shipped across the U.S. border for
cocaine, other drugs, guns and money.

A study released in 2002 showed the number of marijuana grow-ops in British
Columbia had increased 222 per cent between 1997 and 2000 and had jumped by
more than 1,000 per cent in some areas. Those figures are being updated in
a study, now near completion, that is expected to confirm a continued rapid
growth.

Mr. Campbell said that in addition to putting more police on the streets,
the initiative will allow the formation of special prosecutorial teams and
there will be new legislation aimed at organized crime.

Mr. Campbell said he could not discuss the legislation in detail before it
is introduced, but Mr. Coleman said it will apply a "reverse onus" on
assets believed to have been bought by proceeds of crime.

For example, a convicted dealer could be required to prove that his house
and other assets were not paid for with drug money, he said.

Mr. Campbell rejected the proposition that the crime-fighting initiative is
an early election promise. He said the action is not part of any campaign
and was announced now "because we have a strong economy," which allows the
government to fund programs that have long been on its agenda.

NDP House Leader Joy MacPhail accused the Premier of attempting to boost
the government's pre-election profile, after overseeing programs that
reduced community funding and closed courthouses.

"They cut many programs for police . . . they cut our correctional services
. . . and now all of a sudden, weeks before an election, he becomes a
believer that more needs to be done," Ms. MacPhail said.

She said the Liberals had done nothing to fight crime for years and are now
just posturing for the election. "It's all smoke and mirrors."