Feds seek to toughen prisoner transfer laws

B.C. gangsters imprisoned in the U.S. could have a tougher time returning to Canada to serve their sentences.

 

The federal government reintroduced legislation Thursday that would create more restrictions on when an offender would be able to return home.

 

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the amendment to the International Transfer of Offenders Act would make the protection of society the primary focus of the Canadian corrections system.

 

"Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. Our government is taking action to protect Canadians, their families and children, and to ensure offenders are held accountable for their actions in Canada and abroad," Toews said.

 

If the legislation passes, the minister would be able to deny a transfer if the prisoner could endanger public safety, continue to engage in criminal activities following his or her transfer, or endanger a child, in the case of a convicted sexual predator.

 

The government would also be able to consider whether the offender has participated in rehabilitation and cooperated with law enforcement.

 

High-profile gangsters such as United Nations gang founder Clay Roueche from the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford's Rob Shannon and Vancouver's Ranj Cheema are now serving drug smuggling sentences in the U.S.

 

Roueche is being held at the high-security Lee penitentiary near Jonesville, Va.

His release date is July 5, 2034.

 

Shannon, who was sentenced to 20 years in March 2009, is being held in Phoenix with a proposed release date of Nov. 6, 2025.

 

Cheema, who got a five-year sentence in February 2009, is due out on Jan. 14, 2012 and is in Taft Correctional Institution in California.

 

If inmates do get transferred back to Canada, they can apply for day parole after one-sixth of their sentence and full parole after a third.

 

They get statutory release after two-thirds.

 

In the U.S., they serve a longer portion of their sentence -- usually at least 80 per cent.

 

New Democrat MP Don Davies agrees the act needed reform, but disagrees with many of the amendments introduced.

 

"We agree that enhancing public safety should be one of the purposes of the act and that the safety of the public should be given consideration when considering an application for transfer," Davies said.

 

"What this bill does is grant absolute discretion to the minister to pick and choose who they bring back to Canada."

 

He said the act "needs to be strengthened, not shredded."

 

"This bill does away with a clear legal process that has been in place since 1978, and replaces it with decisions made at the minister's whim," said Davies, who represents Vancouver-Kingsway.

"It opens up the process to bias, and does away with any transparency and accountability."

 

He also said that when inmates come back to Canada, correctional officials here are in "control of an offender's rehabilitation and supervision after they have finished their sentence."

 

Between 1978 and 2007, 1,351 offenders were transferred to Canadian jails, 1,069 of whom came from the United States.

 

In 2004-05, the Liberals approved 100 per cent of the applications for transfers and in 2005-06 they approved 98 per cent.

 

Since the Conservatives took power in 2006, those numbers have dropped. Between Jan. 1, 2009 and Sept. 17, 2009, just 27 per cent of applications for transfers back to Canada were approved.

There are 1,617 Canadian offenders serving time in foreign prisons, most in the States. Canada receives about 250 applications for transfer from foreign jails every year.

 

kbolan@vancouversun.com Read The Real Scoop blog at vancouversun.com/bolan