Dion Soft On Crime Says Liberal Soulmate

Dion losing law-and-order votes, leading Liberal says
JOHN IBBITSON

OTTAWA -- Ontario's Attorney-General has warned Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion that his party's justice policies have "very little substance," are a generation out of date and could be potentially fatal for the party in the next federal election.

Michael Bryant, a fellow Liberal, conveyed the warning in a position paper to the federal leadership that has been obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Stephen Harper's Conservative government has effectively established a reputation for confronting and combatting gun and gang violence, the paper asserts.

In contrast, "Liberals trumpeted a trickle-down social-safety net approach, arguing that a strong anti-poverty social-safety net will address the root causes of crime."
However, a "focus on prevention alone does nothing for those families in crime-ridden high rises where illegal guns police the hallways," the paper maintains.

Worse, Mr. Bryant states, the Liberals have "very little substance to offer by way of alternative, and certainly nothing new or effective. The typical federal Liberal approach to crime, in a word, is a boomer approach that is stuck in the summer of love."

As a result, Mr. Bryant argues, "Crime is for Liberals what the environment is for Conservatives."

For Mr. Bryant, "The same fate awaits Liberals on the issue of crime." A high-profile incident involving gangs or guns that pushed public safety to the top of the agenda could leave the Liberals dangerously vulnerable to accusations that the party is soft on crime, Mr. Bryant warns.

A call to Mr. Dion's office asking for comment on Mr. Bryant's paper was not returned.

While the Liberals argue that they are "smart on crime" by pursuing the root causes of antisocial behaviour, Mr. Bryant's paper argues that such a position has little traction with voters.

"Being smart on crime is dumb politically if there are no wedges and little substance," the paper maintains.

For that reason, Mr. Bryant goes on, "we need to reconsider some of our traditional Liberal policies on crime. We need to take a close look at strong statutory measures, including reverse-onus clauses and mandatory minimums. We need to consider investigative techniques that Liberals have traditionally dismissed, especially the use of closed-circuit cameras and civil seizures."

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Toronto Mayor David Miller publicly supported federal Conservative legislation that would introduce mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving guns. The Liberals, however, have worked with other opposition parties to obstruct the legislation in the House of Commons. The Conservatives have also introduced legislation that would reverse the onus of proof from the Crown to the defendant in some bail hearings.

The Liberals argue that studies show tougher sentences do not deter crime. Mr. Bryant contends such reasoning fails to "embrace the irrefutable logic of incapacitation," the policy of getting criminals off the street and in jail, which the paper describes as "a powerful tool to rebuild communities under siege." Such policies employed at the provincial and municipal level, the Ontario Attorney-General claims, led to a 25-per-cent reduction in shootings and a 40-per-cent reduction in gun homicides in Toronto last year.

It is time, the position paper argues, for the federal Liberal Party to take a tougher approach to crime and abandon policies that have become, in effect, anachronistic.

"The point is to have some credibility on the issue," the paper concludes, "enough to assure voters during a crime crisis that Liberals actually have some answers to improve public safety, thereby removing crime as a wedge issue with Conservatives and allowing a focus on more traditional Liberal social justice issues."