Province wants Ottawa to get tough on drug crime

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on February 12, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The Alberta government wants Ottawa to get tougher on drug crime.
Premier Danielle Smith and Mickey Amery, the Alberta Minister of Justice and Attorney General, want the federal government to completely scrap Bill C-5 and reintroduce minimum jail sentences for offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The purpose of the bill, according to Ottawa, is “to address systemic racism in the CJS (Canadian justice system) and in particular, the over-representation of Indigenous people, Black persons and members of marginalized communities, while maintaining public safety.”
C-5 was passed in 2022 and repealed some minimum penalties for drug offences and allowed the establishment of diversion measures for simple possession offences.
The bill, says the federal government website, also has a firearms component and “is part of a comprehensive strategy to address gun violence and strengthen gun control in Canada which includes a freeze on hand guns, increasing the maximum penalties for firearms trafficking, smuggling and other offences from 10 to 14 years imprisonment and introducing a ‘red flag’ regime which would allow for the removal of firearms from a person if they pose a threat to themselves or others.”
The Alberta government wants Ottawa to rescind guidelines prepared by the Public Prosecutor’s Service of Canada that direct federal prosecutors to divert drug crimes away from criminal courts to pursue alternative measures which leave those prosecutors dealing with only the most serious drug cases.
Smith and Amery want Ottawa, if it doesn’t agree to their requests, to provide funding so Alberta can take over the handling of all CDSA prosecutions.
“For years, Alberta’s government has urged the federal government to reverse their soft-on-crime policies which have allowed illegal drugs to flood our streets and for repeat offenders to prey on our most vulnerable. The federal government must act now and put an end to their insane policies. And if they refuse to, then they must allow the Province of Alberta to take over all prosecutions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Let there be no mistake, Alberta’s government will find these dangerous criminals, prosecute them and keep them in jail where they belong,” said Smith in a statement this week.
The province said C-5 weakened the Canadian justice system and increased potential harm in several ways by:
* Eliminating all mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for CDSA offences;
* Eliminating many mandatory minimum sentences for serious weapons and substance-related offences under the Criminal Code of Canada;
* Removing limitations placed on the use of conditional sentences;
* Forcing both police and prosecutors to first consider referring people to treatment and support programs rather than charging or prosecuting drug possession offences; and
* Continuing to emphasize an approach to drug possession that fails to address the death, disorder and victimization caused by the drug-crime nexus, by focusing narrowly on diversionary measures.
“Alberta is deeply concerned about the federal government’s failure to address the growing drug crisis in Canada. Federal prosecution directives and Bill C-5 have significantly weakened our justice system, allowing criminals and drug dealers to exploit loopholes while putting public safety and Canadian lives at risk. We demand immediate action to reverse these disastrous policies, prioritize the safety and well-being of Canadians, and restore Canada’s reputation on an international level,” stated Amery.
The province believes drugs and drug-related crime are worsening in the country with trafficking of drugs often linked to trafficking of humans and guns.

3
-2