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Thursday, February 03, 2011

WESTERN MINISTERS FOCUS ON KEY JUSTICE ISSUES

February 2, 2011

Manitoba Justice Minister Andrew Swan welcomes ministers responsible for justice from the western provinces to a meeting in Manitoba. (Barry Penner, British Columbia Attorney General; Andrew Swan, Manitoba Justice Minister; Yogi Huyghebaert, Saskatchewan Minister of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing; Frank Oberle, Alberta Solicitor General and Minister of Public Security
 

 The Province of Manitoba is distributing this on behalf of the Western Ministers Responsible for Justice.
WINNIPEG, Man. – Western ministers responsible for justice today concluded a two-day meeting by agreeing to continue to focus on protecting the public from serious high-risk offenders and ensuring funding allows for appropriate levels of federal services to support the effective functioning of the justice system, Manitoba Minister of Justice Andrew Swan said on behalf of his colleagues.
Manitoba hosted the Feb. 1 to 2 Winnipeg meeting of western attorneys general and solicitors general with representation from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and B.C.  The ministers discussed gangs and organized crime, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, measures to reduce impaired driving, funding for DNA analysis services, toxicology and forensic services to support criminal prosecutions, and criminal intelligence information systems.
Ministers were updated on legislation dealing with complex gang and organized crime cases, the use of correctional intelligence in threat assessment and risk management of gang-involved offenders, and provincial change of name legislation to prevent offenders from hiding their identities.
“For the proper functioning of the justice system, it is important that we continue to work with the federal government to achieve needed legislative reforms, but also devote attention to the programs and services that support the system,” Swan said.  “We have made our views known to the federal minister of justice about legislative issues such as reforming the Youth Criminal Justice Act.  We are now moving forward to addressing our concerns to the federal government about the need to ensure an appropriate level of funding and service for the RCMP’s National Police Services.”
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection informed ministers about its programs and plans for future initiatives.  Ministers also discussed provincial initiatives to combat sexual exploitation of children and youth.
“Children and youth are our future, but they are, at the same time, the most vulnerable members of our society,” Swan said.  “We must strive to do whatever we can to protect them from sexual exploitation.  Our partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a key element of our strategy to protect children.”

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