🚀 go-pugleaf

abc wrote:
> Liberal senators blasted by Tories, NDP for blocking crime bill
>  
>  
> October 7, 2009 
> 
>  
> Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, shown here in a March 2009 file 
> photo, blasted Liberal senators on Wednesday for watering down 
> legislation designed to remove credit for time served by offenders 
> awaiting sentencing.
>  
> Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, shown here in a March 2009 file 
> photo, blasted Liberal senators on Wednesday for watering down 
> legislation designed to remove credit for time served by offenders 
> awaiting sentencing.
> Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters
> 
> OTTAWA � Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson blasted Liberal 
> senators on Wednesday, accusing them of watering down legislation 
> designed to remove credit for time served by offenders awaiting 
> sentencing.
> 
> The legislation, supported by provincial governments across the 
> country, would eliminate a common practice among judges, when 
> sentencing offenders, to credit them on a two-for-one basis for each 
> day spent in detention
> 
> But the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee voted to 
> change the proposed legislation so that offenders would receive a 
> credit of 1.5 days for each day served in pre-sentence custody � but 
> that judges would retain their discretion to sentence up to two days or 
> as they see fit.
> 
> "I believe the bill has been gutted," Nicholson told Canwest News 
> Service. "Judges will have the discretion to give up to two-to-one, 
> which is exactly what we had taken aim at."
> 
> NDP Leader Jack Layton also took aim at the senators, criticizing them 
> for not raising concerns about the legislation earlier.
> 
> "Unelected senators shouldn't be standing in the way of the unanimous 
> will of the House when it comes to important laws," Layton said. "This 
> is another example why we shouldn't have unelected law makers in this 
> country and that the Senate should be abolished."
> 
> Nicholson also criticized Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff for allowing 
> the senators to change the legislation. The justice minister said 
> there's a consensus among Canadians for more laws cracking down on 
> crime, but that the senators are delaying those changes by proposing 
> amendments.
> 
> "I hope (the legislation) gets fixed in the main Senate," Nicholson 
> said. "This is why I have been asking since June, for Mr. Ignatieff to 
> step forward, to put some pressure, to show some leadership on this 
> issue and bring together some unity within his own political party on 
> all of these issues."
> 
> But Liberal justice critic Dominic LeBlanc defended Ignatieff, 
> explaining that the Liberal MPs supported the government's legislation 
> and would work to reverse any changes proposed by the Senate.
> 
> "Mr. Ignatieff is not like Mr. Harper. He doesn't order caucus members 
> around," said LeBlanc. "The Senate has a role to play but I can be very 
> clear that we don't believe the bill should be amended."
> 
> The Harper government introduced its bill seven months ago amid 
> complaints from provincial governments and other critics that the 
> credit is being abused by accused offenders who drag out their trials 
> so they can cut their time in prison.
> 
> Criminal lawyers have countered that judges can already deny time 
> credit to those who try to drag out their trials. The idea behind the 
> credit is to compensate for the harsh conditions in detention 
> facilities.
> 
> The Senate as a whole, which is dominated by Liberals, must still pass 
> the amended version of the bill before it is sent back to the House of 
> Commons for vote, said Mark Roy, spokesman for the Liberals in the 
> Senate.
> 
> The Commons can decide to reject the amendment and punt the bill back 
> to the Senate, which has traditionally accepted the will of the elected 
> MPs.
> 

They are all soft on crime.  That is why I don't vote NDP, Lib nor Cons 
any more.  Which corrupt party of Kanada do you vote for?