I am not a lawyer. I am simply interested in criminal justice issues and democracy, so I'm not well-equipped to answer the legal questions. Will you be reviewing the newly changed regulations? With these concerns raised in mind, could you please write a blog entry/response on this? As you can imagine, there's little response to the changes, and no political voices can be heard on the subject (who wants to be on the side of criminals? There are only voter points to be gained via the simplistic "Tough on Crime" position).
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/news-nouv/nr-cp/2010/doc_32532.html
From the Facebook page:
On August 4, the Government of Canada quietly amended the Serious Crime Law. The changes which were never debated in parliament were able to be passed without a vote under section 467.1(4) of the Criminal Code, which empowers Cabinet to expand regulations that deal with Organized Crime. Therefore, the Government has added to the definition of Organized Crime, any crime that involves three people or more in the acts of betting and book making, keeping a common bawdy-house and various offences in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. By expanding the definition of Serious Crime so widely, one may anticipate individuals who may have previously undertaken these crimes to face much more severe and costly sentences under the new regulations. Thus re-characterizing non-violent crimes helps bolster serious crime statistics that have been declining on a per-capita basis for more than a decade.
Anyone care to offer an opinion in the comments on the new Serious Crime Regulations? Tom
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