PM expects opposition to 'parrot' critics of anti-gang measures

Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists tougher sentences included in the anti-gang legislation the Conservatives tabled on Thursday will deter crime but said he expects opposition parties will "parrot" critics of the measures because they believe in "soft-on-crime" policies.

Speaking in the Vancouver area, which has seen 18 shootings in the past month, Harper said the Tories received the Canadian public's backing in the last election to ensure violent criminals face strong penalties.

"The truth of the matter is, those who say that the tougher penalties on perpetrators will not work don’t want them to work because they don’t believe in his kind of approach," he told reporters.

"We know that we’re going to hear these critics, and we know that we’re going to hear the opposition parrot some of these critics because they all believe in soft-on-crime policies."

Shortly after the prime minister spoke, the Liberals and NDP announced they would support the bill in principle, while also criticizing the Tories for not going far enough in terms of crime prevention.

The proposed amendments to the Criminal Code would make any gang-related homicide a first-degree murder charge, as well as create a new charge for drive-by shootings that would carry a mandatory four-year minimum sentence upon conviction, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said.

The bill will also seek to increase sentences against those convicted of assaulting police officers with a weapon or causing bodily harm to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

"We are sending a very clear message," Nicholson told reporters in Ottawa. "We will not tolerate such violent criminal activity that attempts to flourish at the expense of law-abiding Canadians."

The justice minister added that the bill would not be treated as a confidence vote, unlike the Tories' past anti-crime laws that were pushed through the last Parliament.

The Bloc Québécois said it is in favour of the bill but wants to review the mandatory minimum sentences in the justice committee.

Rash of killings

A second bill, which could be introduced Friday, is targeted at drugs, Nicholson told CBC News earlier in the day in an interview.

"Drugs are an intimate part of what gangs and organized crime are involved with in this country. We recognize they go hand in hand," he said.

B.C.'s Lower Mainland has seen a sudden rash of gun violence, with incidents ranging from Abbotsford, in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, to Kitsilano, the heart of latte-land on Vancouver's west side.

On Wednesday, provincial politicians, including B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal, travelled to Ottawa to discuss the surge in violence with federal parties.

B.C. is lobbying for extra provisions to help tackle gang-related violence, including wiretap access to intercept internet and BlackBerry communications. It will also ask for laws ending two-for-one credits for time served and for fewer demands placed on prosecutors to disclose evidence to defence lawyers.

The prime minister said ending two-for-one credits is "certainly" one of the many reforms the government is considering for Canada's justice policy, which he said has been "going in the wrong direction" for the past 40 years.

"This is another first step," Harper said. "There are many more that have to be done to get the system turned around, and we will certainly be looking at all useful suggestions from our provinces."

Tories failed on crime prevention: Dosanjh

But Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh, an MP from B.C., promptly lashed out at Harper for failing to include the B.C. government's proposals.

Dosanjh told reporters the Tory bill simply "repackages" current offences, and accused the government of completely ignoring crime prevention programs over the past few years.  

"We support the bill in principle, but we believe that this bill could have been done earlier and it doesn’t really create any new offences," Dosanjh said.

"This government has absolutely, miserably failed in advancing our agenda, the Canadian agenda, on crime prevention." 

NDP justice critic Joe Comartin called on the Conservatives to fast-track the bill into law, saying it is consistent with themes that his party have supported in past elections.

"We will be supporting it and we will be pushing it through the House as fast as we can," Comartin said.

But he also called for more action to be taken as part of a comprehensive strategy, including more police officers on the street, especially in the Metro Vancouver area, as well as more diversion projects for youths at risk of joining gangs.

But Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan defended the government's national crime prevention strategy and cited last month's launching of five separate projects to divert young people from criminal groups.

"They’re rolling out," Van Loan said. "Obviously, those take years to have their full impact, but we are taking action on that front where it was neglected for far too long."

Canada 'navigating in the fog' on gangs: author

Michael Chettleburgh, a criminal justice analyst and author of Young Thugs, which chronicles the rise of Canada's homegrown gang culture, said the Tories' measures won't add much clarity to how ill-equipped the justice system is to handle gang violence in Canada.

"Right now we are navigating in the fog around the gang issue," he told CBC News from Toronto. 

"For many gang members, tougher laws doesn't matter. They don't pay attention to tougher laws."

He said Canada is lagging behind compared to the recent changes made in the United States, such as allowing the testimony of witnesses against gangs to be entered into court records without the witness having to stand before the court.