National crime bill adds $2M to N.B. budget

CBC News

The Harper government’s omnibus crime legislation will cost the New Brunswick government an additional $2 million a year, according to the provincial Department of Public Safety.

The federal government’s so-called "tough on crime legislation," which would keep more criminals in jail longer, is expected to add new policing and court costs to provincial governments.

That has led many provinces to oppose the Prime Minister Stephen Harper government’s plans unless the federal government antes up more funding to pay for the extra costs.

The Ontario government estimates that the federal crime law will cost it more than $1 billion and Quebec argues the changes could cost it as much as $600 million.

By comparison, New Brunswick is estimating the new crime legislation will cost it $2 million, according to documents filed with the legislative assembly.

The Department of Public Safety looked at four of the federal government’s proposed amendments, which it believed would be most likely to affect provincial coffers.

"The reintroduction of the federal law-and-order legislation is expected to have substantial impacts, not only on New Brunswick, but other Canadian jurisdictions as well. The costs associated with managing these amendments will be significant," the provincial document states.

"In New Brunswick, the additional incremental cost is estimated at just less than $2 million annually. This figure is based on 70 additional inmates and does not include the projected increase in length of sentences for Bill C-54."

The crime bill, Bill C-10, includes tougher sentences for sexual crimes committed against children, the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes and changes to young offender laws.

The bill passed its final vote in the House of Commons last month and is currently in the hands of the Senate.

The provincial government is estimating that the legislation will lead to an increase of 18,957 bed days.

The department released a series of emails between Department of Public Safety employees discussing the possible cost increases.

One email stated that, "we need to be careful with the wording as our minister did signal support last year."

And another said, "I am of the opinion that these projections are on the conservative end. I expect the impact to be larger but unfortunately I am unable to quantify that. It really depends on how judges in N.B. interpret certain aspects of the Bill."

Justice Minister Marie-Claude Blais was unavailable for an interview on Monday to discuss the provincial government’s analysis of the crime bill costs.

But in the past she said she "intends to be very vocal about some of the challenges."

‘A drop in the bucket’

Moncton East Liberal MLA Chris Collins, the opposition’s justice critic, said he does not believe $2 million comes close to the real costs that the provincial government will have to pay.

"I think that's just a drop in the bucket of what the actual costs are," Collins said.

"That doesn’t take into consideration policing costs, transportation costs, court costs or legal aid. So that is a very small portion of the costs for this bill."

Michael Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University, said he agrees that everything from policing to court costs weren't addressed in the department’s analysis.

And he said Premier David Alward’s move to publicly support the bill may end up backfiring on the cash-strapped province.

"I cannot second-guess the minister, but it would not have been something I would have advised her to do. Only because the only way the federal government will I think, will put forward this money is only through political pressure," Boudreau said.

"Now that the province has agreed, what incentive is there for Ottawa to now fund New Brunswick's portion of this bill? None."