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law Times • July 25, 2011 NEWS PAGE 5 Tories highlight crime policy, dismiss legal aid BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times order at the heart of the justice debate ahead of the provincial election this fall. While the NDP platform T steers clear of justice altogether and the Liberals have yet to release their manifesto, the Changebook released by Tim Hudak's Conser- vatives is brimming with tough- on-crime rhetoric. In an interview, Conservative justice critic Ted Chudleigh seized on comments by Premier Dalton McGuinty criticizing the federal government's commitment to in- creasing the country's jail capac- ity. "Dalton McGuinty has taken a hands-off view of law and order, and we think that's wrong, to say the least," Chudleigh says. "If you ask the average person in an ur- ban community if they feel safe in their homes or on the street at night or whether their children are safe, many of the answers will be no." Th e Conservatives are touting a plan to put criminals to work through 40 hours a week of man- ual labour that would include lit- ter collection, raking leaves, and cutting grass. In addition, there's a $50-million plan to track sex of- fenders with GPS technology and make their names and addresses available online. But Attorney General Chris Bentley dismisses the Tory fo- cus on law and order as ground- less "fear mongering" at a time when crime rates are falling. "No crime is acceptable, but the statistics show we're moving in the right direction," he says. "Justice is infi nitely more com- plicated than some of the sug- gestions they're advancing." Th e Tory platform also promises to crack down on he Ontario Progres- sive Conservative party wants to put law and illegal tobacco sales, increase the services available to victims of crime, and create a special team of Crown attorneys fo- cused on fi ghting fraud. Th at's an area that has been neglected during the previous eight years, according to Chudleigh. "You see it in auto insurance," he says. "It's a billion-dollar-a- year problem, and the govern- ment is ignoring it and it means people are paying more premi- ums for less coverage." Bentley says he'd rather focus on the eff ectiveness of the justice system. In terms of the govern- ment's record so far, he highlights civil justice reforms that have moved more cases into the Small Claims Court and the ongoing changes to the family law system. "We've made some very signif- icant changes and strides, always collaboratively," he says. "We'll continue to build on the founda- tion we've been setting because everything depends on the justice system working more eff ectively." Bentley also paid tribute to the Justice on Target program, which he notes has halted a 20- year increase in the number of appearances it takes to dispose of a criminal charge. But Chudleigh says that while the aims of Justice on Target are laudable, he isn't convinced they're coming without a price. "When you want to cut down on the length of time a case takes, one way to do that is to increase plea bargains," he says. Th e Conservatives also want to reduce the time cases take to get through the system by ex- tending court hours. "We've got all this infrastructure built up and we're only using the courts for seven or eight hours a day," Chudleigh says. "I think it could be much more effi cient if we had night courts." For his part, Bentley says he's also proud of the investment CLARIFICATION A July 11 article, "Title insurance wars heating up once again," described ongoing tension between TitlePlus, a number of title insurance companies, and the Title Insurance Industry Association of Canada. One of the companies mentioned, Stewart Title Guaranty Co., is not a member of the association and is not involved in Quebec litigation launched by the governing bodies of the legal and notary professions against several title insurers. Perfectbound • June 2011 One time purchase $36.50 L88804-531 On subscription $36.50 L88804-531-26059 Multiple copy discounts available Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. the government made into legal aid when it signed its memo- randum of understanding with the Criminal Lawyers' Asso- ciation and Legal Aid Ontario. Chudleigh, however, suggests further investment may not be a priority for his party. "You know lawyers get paid pretty well," he says. "I think with their current rates of pay at hundreds of dollars an hour when the vast majority of peo- ple would be pretty happy with a $25-an-hour job, it's very dif- fi cult to increase them beyond the current rate." NDP justice critic Peter Ko- rmos didn't respond to requests for an interview about his par- ty's platform. ATLANTIC LEGAL TELEPHONE DIRECTORY 2011-2012 CONNECT TO THE EAST COAST LEGAL NETWORK Get names, mailing addresses, email addresses and phone numbers for lawyers and law offices in the Atlantic provinces. Compiled by Canada Law Book's renowned directories group, the Atlantic Legal Telephone Directory is your source of essential east coast legal contact information. 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