NO LEGAL AID FOR GANGSTERS: TORIES

Ndp Justice Minister Dave Chomiak Brands Idea A 'Publicity Stunt'

CONVICTED gang members will be barred from accessing legal aid, Tory
Leader Hugh McFadyen pledged Sunday.

"That means the taxpayers will no longer fund the legal aid defence
of those involved in drug trafficking or other gang-related
activity," said McFadyen.

Drug trafficking, proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal
organization are the three convictions that would preclude someone
from ever using a Legal Aid Manitoba lawyer under a Tory government.

McFadyen, who is a lawyer, said he expects the measure would survive
an inevitable constitutional challenge.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every arrested
person the right to retain counsel without delay, but McFadyen said
that doesn't extend to a guarantee of taxpayer-funded legal aid.

That's true, said Debra Parkes, professor and charter expert at the
University of Manitoba's law school.

But the courts have also strongly affirmed the charter right to a
fair trial and that includes state-funded access to lawyers in
serious cases where a person may be deprived of their liberty.

"The weight of the decisions under the charter would indicate that
this idea is very constitutionally suspect," said Parkes.

NDP Justice Minister Dave Chomiak called the idea a "publicity stunt"
and said denying convicted gang members access to legal aid would
ultimately cost the province more.

That's because the courts would simply appoint outside defence
counsel, as they have done in several other cases where alleged
criminals were facing jail time. That would delay trials and inflate
lawyers' fees.

McFadyen said most gang members have the resources to hire a lawyer,
and are still entitled to defend themselves in court. And freeing up
legal aid lawyers from tremendously time-consuming gang trials would
allow more low-income people to access legal aid who are currently shut out.

McFadyen's Sunday afternoon announcement came just a couple of hours
after the jury returned with a series of guilty verdicts in the case
of Hells Angel Ian Grant. And it capped off a week of crime-fighting
promises made by the Tories, who believe public safety is the NDP's
Achilles heel.

"We can't get tough enough, soon enough," McFadyen said yesterday.

The PCs have promised hundreds more police officers, prosecutors,
judges and support staff as well as the construction of a new jail
and a mandate to Crown attorneys to seek stiffer sentences.

They've also pledged to subject would-be judges to public hearings, a
move the federal Tories have embraced but some say simply politicized
the judiciary.

On Sunday, McFadyen also promised to dedicate two of six new judges
to gang and gun cases and hire 25 more probation and bail officers.