Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service

Tuesday, January 1, 2010

The Harper government has put politics ahead of fighting crime by shutting
down Parliament until March, victims of crime and federal opposition parties
are charging.

Although the government has argued that it chose to prorogue Parliament late
last month to focus on the second phase of its economic action plan with a
new session, some of the affected crime victims say they are disappointed.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament until March 3
-- a day ahead of the release of a new federal budget -- kills any pending
legislation and committee work.

"Nothing ever happens; and in the meantime, victims are waiting, waiting,
waiting," said Pierre Gravel, 62, an investor who lost $300,000 following
the collapse of Norbourg, a Quebec-based trust-fund company.

"If the stories about the victims of white-collar criminals were known,
maybe people would wake up, but for those who live through this, there's
nothing funny about it."

More than 9,000 investors lost more than $100-million in funds that went
missing from Norbourg over a five-year period. The company's former CEO,
Vincent Lacroix, was eventually convicted of fraud and sentenced to 13 years
in prison.

Some, including Mr. Gravel, recovered part of their losses in a legal battle
with Quebec's securities regulator, but Mr. Gravel still says the federal
government has the most power to crack down on the problem through crime
legislation.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson staged several announcements last fall to
highlight legislation to fight white-collar criminals that was never adopted
-- it now must be reintroduced in the spring.

Legislation to eliminate house arrests for serious crimes, cracking down on
auto theft and requiring Internet service providers to report child
pornography content found on their servers are also among the bills that
must now start over in Parliament.

"We will seek Opposition agreement to proceed expeditiously with other
government legislation -- particularly laws urgently needed to fight crime
-- that the [federal] Liberals have blocked and obstructed," said Mr.
Nicholson's spokeswoman Pamela Stephens in an email.

"Hopefully, this time around, they will all be a bit more helpful."

Opposition parties have suggested the shutdown was designed to bail out the
government from controversies over its environmental policies and its
handling of prisoners captured by Canadian Forces during the war in
Afghanistan.

But Joey Davis, who represents investors who lost millions invested with
former financial consultant Earl Jones, said he believes legislation to
crack down on white-collar criminals can still be salvaged.

"I think we got caught up in the general politics of the land and that's
unfortunate," said Mr. Davis, also an adviser for a victims group called the
BeStrong Movement.

"We're aware that there are other pieces of legislation that got held up as
well, but I'm confident that the government will reintroduce this."

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BILLS LEFT TO DIE

These are some of the tough-on-crime bills introduced by the Conservative
government which had not yet been passed into law before prorogation of
Parliament.

-C-34 Protecting Victims From Sex Offenders Act

-C-36 Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act

-C-42 Ending Conditional Sentences for Property and Other Serious Crimes Act

-C-43 Strengthening Canada's Corrections System Act

-C-46 Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act

-C-52 Retribution on Behalf of Victims of White Collar Crime Act

-C-53 Protecting Canadians by Ending Early Release for Criminals Act

-C-54 Protecting Canadians by Ending Sentence Discounts for Multiple Murders
Act