Minimum sentencing rules could cost provinces

The federal government's rules regarding mandatory minimum sentences will cut into the bottom line of the provinces, some critics warn.

Parliament has already passed legislation that establishes mandatory minimum sentences for impaired driving and serious firearms offences. Now, another bill focused on organized drug crimes is before the Senate. 

Mandatory minimums will lead to longer sentences behind bars and require additional prison space. But NDP justice critic Joe Comartin says there are also additional prosecution costs to mandatory minimum sentences. 

"People are not going to plead guilty," he said. "We're not going to have plea bargaining arrangements because the prosecutor basically has nothing to offer the accused person in terms of a reduced sentence. So we end up with many more trials."

Provinces pick up most of the tab for trials, including the bills for security, stenographers, court time, some judges and provincial prosecutors.

Federal authorities prosecute most drug crimes in Canada.  And with the drug bill before the Senate, the Conservative government has already set aside $33.5 million over five years to support the prosecutors who work for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

But provincial attorneys general say that, so far, they're not getting any additional funds from the federal government to cover the costs of additional trials. 

New Brunswick Attorney General Kelly Lamrock says he expects his province alone will incur an extra $2 million a year in prosecutorial costs. 

"In our province we've gotten our crime rate down. We've done it by being tough on the causes of crime as well as being tough on criminals when they deserve it," he said.

"If they're going to pass on millions of costs, on doing it their way, New Brunswickers would respectfully ask that if they're overruling us on the best way to keep ourselves safe, then frankly they should gamble their dimes on it."

He says the federal government has not yet acknowledged these extra costs.

"The only response we got is someone said, 'Well, we've increased funding for the health-care system, so you should be able to absorb it.' But obviously those calculations weren't done with this in mind."

Transfer payments increased

A spokeswoman for the federal justice minister says the government increased transfer payments to the provinces this year. 

In an email to CBC News, Pamela Stephens says, "Canadians lose faith in the criminal justice system when they feel that the punishment does not fit the crime."

Saskatchewan Attorney General Don Morgan says his province wholeheartedly supports the federal legislation but has not determined what the costs will be.

"We don't know and won't know until it's been operational for awhile," he says. "But there's no doubt it will increase the time demands on prosecutors and the time requirements on our court system." 

Morgan says the prosecutorial costs will probably be manageable, adding that provinces must do their part to crack down on crime. However, he said he has some concern about what the rules could mean for prisons.

"The one that's going to be a little harder to manage in most provinces is going to be the correctional facilities," he said, noting that most provinces are now operating at or near capacity.

"So if you had something that all of a sudden imposed a significant increase, that's really going to create some challenges."

Manitoba Attorney General Andrew Swan says he too is supportive of the federal government's tough-on-crime agenda, though it could lead to more demand for legal aid. Swan says the government used to be an equal partner in funding the program. 

"Successive federal governments have choked that legal aid system so that, now in Manitoba at least, the federal government is paying about 20 per cent of the total cost." 

"If there is the prospect of a mandatory minimum sentence, it may put more pressures on that area," he added. "We have a very good legal aid system here in Manitoba. We plan to keep it that way, but we could certainly use federal help."

Kelly Lamrock says all of these issues will be raised this weekend when Atlantic Canada's attorneys general meet in Newfoundland.