On injustices

There was never much room for doubt that the provinces wouldn't simply go along quietly with the Cons' plans to impose massive new costs on provincial justice systems. And with a meeting of justice ministers coming up this week, the time has come for Vic Toews to deal with the fallout:

Several provincial justice ministers want Ottawa to help them pay for the Conservative government's get-tough crime agenda, which they said will cost the provinces more money by putting extra strain on their jail and court systems.

The pitch will be made to federal Justice Minister Vic Toews and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day when they fly into western Newfoundland on Wednesday for a meeting with their provincial counterparts.

"Obviously all ministers are going to be interested in the impacts of the federal criminal justice reforms and how that will affect the provincial justice systems," said Newfoundland's Conservative justice minister, Tom Marshall, who will chair the meeting.

"It's going to have a major effect on our system. We will need more room in our prisons, we will need more prosecutors and we will need more legal aid lawyers so it's going to have a financial effect."...

Day has acknowledged the measures could cost the system more money and he said that Ottawa has set aside as much as $245 million over five years to pay for additional prison cells.

But the provinces - which are partners in justice and run provincial jails where people serve sentences of under two years - question how they are going to pay on their end.

"The costs will be borne almost entirely by the provinces and not just on the capital side, building new correctional facilities, but with legal aid and Crown prosecutors," said Saskatchewan Justice Minister Frank Quennell.

"All through the system it's going to cost more money and it's a cheque being written on provincial taxpayers' account by the federal government."

Although several ministers support the legislative proposals, others have concerns, including Quennell, who is skeptical that the tough-on-crime policies will actually make Canada safer.

Toews, through spokesman Mike Storeshaw, declined an interview in advance of the meeting. However, Toews hinted last spring there would be no additional money for provinces to carry out the justice reforms. He said at the time that the provinces largely supported the measures, so they should share in the costs.

It's clear from Quennell's quote that any support from the provinces is far from absolute or unanimous. Which in turn means that there's even less weight to the Cons' already-flimsy justification for imposing yet more costs on the provinces.

Of course, the Cons haven't generally been the least bit shy about making promises on behalf of the provinces. But particularly in what's supposed to be one of their bread-and-butter areas, the Cons' continued unwillingness to support increased provincial obligations with any funding can only lead to yet more unhappiness from the provinces - particularly in light of Jim Flaherty's challenge to provinces to justify any tax increases. And if the provinces understandably refuse to increase their own costs based on Toews' whims, the result could be a far less effective justice system than the one the Cons claim to want to improve.