Retired judges criticize crime bill

JORDAN PRESS
Postmedia News

A group of justice critics, including two retired judges, spoke out Thursday against the federal government’s omnibus crime bill, saying they worry it could result in a “litany of negative consequences” for the justice system.

The judges, retired chief Yukon judge Barry Stuart and former Ontario Superior Court judge James Chadwick, said they had yet to see evidence that bill C-10 would reduce crime or the already heavy load on the justice system.

Chadwick said he worries the mandatory minimum sentences required in the Safe Streets and Communities Act could lead to fewer pleas and more trials that last longer. The longer those trials last, the more likely it may be that the case gets thrown out because of a delay in justice, he said.

“One size does not fit all in the sentencing structure,” Chadwick told a news conference in Ottawa. “There will be more trials … and there may be more acquittals.”

Stuart said the government has spent more money and has provided more evidence on reasons to purchase the F-35 fighter jet than on evidence to support the more than 1,000 clauses contained in Bill C-10.

“I’d like the same test applied to the justice system,” Stuart said.

He said there is too much focus in the act on punishment rather than on prevention and not enough attention paid to involving community groups, which he did as a judge in the North.

“You can’t make communities safe unless you engage communities,” Stuart said.

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said measures contained in the bill have publicly received support from police and victims groups.

Those shows of support have happened in front of a group of senators reviewing the bill. Police have said the tools in C-10 are what they need to deal with criminals, and victim advocates say the tough-on-crime bill meets the beliefs of many Canadians.

The critique of the omnibus crime bill from the retired judges came the same day a Senate committee continued its review of the legislation.

The judges, along with a former Progressive Conservative MP and the former federal victims of crime ombudsman, admitted that with a Conservative majority in the Senate, the bill likely will receive approval.

However, they suggested senators enshrine into the legislation a mandatory review every five years to see if the Safe Streets and Communities Act is doing what its name intends.

“Fear is at the basis of much of the government’s work here,” said David Daubney, a former Progressive Conservative MP and chair of the House of Commons justice committee. “What (C-10) is going to do is make Canadians more fearful and less safe.”

Daubney said the problem now is that offenders don’t have access to rehabilitation programs until late in their sentence.

The bill is slated to receive clause-by clause scrutiny starting today.