Crime crackdown focus of 2 new Tory bills in Ottawa

The Conservative government is expected to table two bills in Ottawa on Thursday, designed to toughen Canada's justice system.

One bill will introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some serious crimes. The other will seek to eliminate conditional sentencing for serious and violent offences.

Justice Minister Vic Toews said the tougher crime measures are aimed at cracking down on violent, dangerous and repeat offenders.

"What it will do is instill confidence in the Canadian justice system," Toews told CBC News.

"Those who are involved in serious crimes or repeat offences need to be punished."

During last winter's federal election, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper promisedto "completely overhaul" the criminal justice system by beefing up police forces across the country and by toughening up the sentences served by criminals.

Critics of the new bills say they may hurt rehabilitation efforts for some criminals.

"What we're doing here is removing any kind of discretion from the sentencing judge to look at the circumstances of the offender and the offence," Louise Botham, president of the criminal lawyers association of Canada, told CBC News.

The new government repeated that pledge in its throne speech in early April, vowing to "prevent crime by putting more police on the street and improving the security of our borders."