XPost: can.community.military, can.jobs, can.legal 
 From: abc@123.cl 
  
 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. 
  
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