Harper pitches two-tier youth justice plan

CAMPBELL CLARK and CAROLINE ALPHONSO AND LES PERREAUX
Globe & Mail

With a report from The Canadian Press

September 23, 2008

OTTAWA, TORONTO and MONTREAL -- Teenagers as young as 14 who are convicted of serious crimes such as murder would face stiffer sentences - including the possibility of life in prison - under Conservative Party proposals that would bypass a Supreme Court of Canada decision that made it more difficult to sentence youths as adults.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said yesterday a re-elected Tory government would overhaul the Youth Criminal Justice Act; in effect, imposing adult sentences on some young offenders and no longer shielding their identity. He said his government would raise maximum sentences for young killers - currently 10 years for first-degree murder and seven years for second-degree - and hand down 14-year sentences for other violent crimes now subject to two- or three-year terms.

The new sentences would affect youths 14 and older in most of the country. But in a nod to Quebec, where the Tories need to win seats to form a majority government, Conservative aides said the law would apply only to those 16 and older in that province, where the justice system and public sentiment favour rehabilitation.

Mr. Harper's communications director, Kory Teneycke, said the different age cutoffs for the tougher sentences are an example of "open federalism." Aides said it is the Tories' intention to allow provinces to choose the age at which the tougher measures kick in, and that they believe it will pass muster in the courts. They said that in the past, only Quebec expressed an interest in having a higher age, at 16.

Defence lawyers and legal experts protested at the prospect of jailing 14-year-olds for life and said harsher sentences have not been shown to reduce juvenile crime.

"The more the government attempts to squeeze young offenders into the adult criminal model, the more likely it is that the courts will resist. It has long been the law in Canada that young people are entitled to a presumption of diminished moral blameworthiness," said Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association. "I see this as a way for [Mr. Harper] to challenge the court to back down from its position."

Research does not suggest that severe punishment of young people will prevent them from embarking on a life of recidivism, he added.