TORY PLEDGE IS BIZARRE

IN search of a wedge issue in the election campaign, Conservative
Leader Hugh McFadyen soldiers on to out-do the New Democrats on law
and order. But on Sunday, his promised reforms slipped from a
get-tough agenda into the bizarre.

Mr. McFadyen pledged a Tory government would deny legal aid to anyone
previously convicted of drug trafficking, benefiting from the
proceeds of crime or being part of a criminal organization. As a
lawyer, Mr. McFadyen should know he cannot wield that kind of power
over the courts.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees access to counsel,
among a long list of fundamental rights for the accused. These rights
protect an individual (and, by extension, the people) from the power
of the state and the arbitrary application of law. Successive
Canadian court rulings have enunciated the necessity of state-funded
counsel for those who cannot afford a lawyer when charged with a
serious offence. Further, in R v. Rowbotham in 1988, an Ontario
appeal court upheld a judge's power to order that a state-paid lawyer
be appointed to ensure a fair trial, even if the accused was denied
legal aid. Mr. McFadyen's automatic denial for some accused would, as
the NDP noted, merely waste the court's time. The Tory leader is
grandstanding for short-term political gain.

Those seeking legal aid assistance are put to a means test to
determine their ability to pay for a lawyer. Mr. McFadyen's
one-strike-you're-out regime would leave a college student previously
convicted of selling dope on his own, indigent or not, if he should
be charged subsequently with murder. It can gall taxpayers to finance
the defence of proven drug dealers and gangsters -- particularly if
their lawyers draw out the trial and enlarge the bill with fruitless
charter challenges. But a legal aid system is the price of ensuring a
fair trial, a basic right in a liberal democratic society.

Mr. McFadyen's announcement was coincidental to the jury conviction
Sunday of Ian Grant, a Hells Angels member, who was found guilty of
eight serious charges, including drug trafficking, extortion and
possession of the proceeds of crime. Grant was acquitted of
participating in a criminal organization. That conviction extends an
accused's sentence, but requires a high threshold of proof.
Politically inspired to get tough on bikers, it has had small success
in Canada and none in Manitoba.

Ian Grant is likely to get a lengthy sentence. His case shows that
the public is served best by good police work and solid evidence
(even when the chief witness is untrustworthy). Mr. McFadyen would
like to find short-cuts, pandering to a perspective and playing on
the impatience of some. Cutting crooks off legal aid is a cheap
sound-bite that aims to weaken the administration of a justice system
designed to work in everyone's interest.