The Harper government introduced new legislation Tuesday proposing mandatory sentencing for individuals convicted of serious drug-related crimes as part of the Conservatives' anti-drug strategy.
Federal Justice Minister Robert Nicholson said the new bill is designed to impose tough sentences on Canadians profiting from organized crime and violence.
"Our speech from the throne set out our commitment to tackling crime and strengthening the security of Canadians. This new legislation is one more step in that direction," Nicholson said Tuesday during a press conference in Ottawa.
If passed, Bill C-2 will impose the first mandatory sentences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for people convicted of drug-related crimes.
"With today's bill, we are saying that serious drug crimes will mean serious jail time," Nicholson said.
Despite Nicholson's focus on tougher punishment, Paul Welsh, director of the Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services centre where Nicholson made his announcement, said the government should emphasize treatment.
"Any effort by any government that focuses on treatment, as opposed to incarceration, is focused on what's effective," he said at the same press conference.
Some of bill's proposed changes include:
- One-year mandatory prison sentence for selling marijuana as part of an organized criminal gang or if weapons or violence are involved;
- Mandatory two-year sentence for dealing illegal drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamines, to youth or for dealing near a school or in an area frequented by youth;
- Mandatory two-year sentence for operating marijuana grow-ops containing at least 500 plants;
- The maximum penalty for marijuana production would increase from seven to 14 years;
- Tougher penalties for trafficking of date-rape drugs;
- Two-year mandatory prison sentence if convicted of dealing hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin.
Offenders who successfully complete drug-treatment court programs and who have not committed violent crimes will be eligible for suspended sentences under the proposed legislation.
"Those individuals who have unfortunately become addicted, we want to get them help but we've made it very clear that those individuals who are in the business of exploiting other people through organized crime, we want to get serious with those individuals," Nicholson said.
The Conservative government maintains billions of dollars in drug profits are used to fund other criminal activities, making trafficking a highly lucrative business that exploits the addictions of others.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said too many Canadian communities are endangered by gang and gun violence linked to the narcotics industry.
"The fact that there are people out there involved in the manufacture of serious drugs who care not about destroying the lives of our young people is a very serious matter," Day said Tuesday.
The legislative reforms are part of the Conservative's two-year $63.8-million anti-drug strategy announced last month. The strategy aims at preventing illegal drug use in young people, treating people who have drug addictions and fighting illegal drug crime.
New Democrat MP Libby Davies said the government's strategy was mainly designed to please Conservative supporters.
"I think it's all about political optics," she said. "They're trying to please their political base without ever examining what are the effective policies that actually work."
With a report by CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa
