Offenders must prove they're not dangerous under proposed bill

The Tory government will introduce new legislation next week that would make it easier to designate criminals found guilty of a third sexual or violent crime as dangerous offenders, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.

The bill would put the onus on a person found guilty of a third violentcrime to convince a judge not to designate them adangerous offender.

As it stands now, the Crown must show ata hearing why the individual should be declared a dangerous offender. Under the proposed legislation, the person would automatically be considered a dangerous offender and would have to prove the designation should not apply.

Harper said if the personcannot prove this,he or shewill be put in prison for an indeterminate period of time and won't be eligible for parole for seven years.

The prime minister said he was convinced that the proposed law would respect the Charter and strikes the necessary balance between protecting individual rights and protecting society as a whole.

As part of the same criminal justice package, the government wants the maximum length of a peace bond doubled from 12 months to 24.

Peace bonds lay out conditions of behaviour for released criminals.

"By putting criminals on a tighter leash after release, we hope to better facilitate their reintegration into the community," Harper said.

Harper accused the opposition of "dragging its feet" on passing other proposed tough-on-crime legislation.

He urged people to contact their local members of Parliament and tell them to "get onside" and get the legislation passed.