Trudeau mandates pot legalization, overhaul of Conservative justice reforms

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered a major overhaul ofCanada's criminal justice system that willput anew focus on restorative justice andhatcha priority plan toregulate and legalize pot.

Trudeau delivered mandate letters to each of hiscabinet ministers Friday, and among the long list of priorities isasweeping review of the last decade of laws and sentencing reforms brought in by the Conservatives.

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"You should conduct a review of the changes in our criminal justice system and sentencing reforms over the past decade with a mandate to assess the changes, ensure that we are increasing the safety of our communities, getting value for money, addressing gaps and ensuring that current provisions are aligned with the objectives of the criminal justice system," reads Trudeau's letter to Justice Minister JodyWilson-Raybould.

Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, the Conservatives took a "tough on crime" approach that increased prison sentences, toughened up the parole and pardon processes, and gave victims more say in the justice system.

Persistent overcrowding in prisons

During that time, there have been reports about overcrowding and the use of segregation in prisons, a disproportionately high number ofaboriginals behind bars, and the inadequate treatment of mental illness.

The justice minister has been instructed to take onthese issues as well.

"Outcomes of this process should include increased use of restorative justice processes and other initiatives to reduce the rate of incarceration amongst indigenous Canadians,and implementation of recommendations from the inquest into the death of Ashley Smith regarding the restriction of the use of solitary confinement and the treatment of those with mental illness," Trudeau wrote in his mandate letter.

Wilson-Raybouldis also tasked with reviewing a series of constitutional challenges to Conservative laws that are nowbefore the courts andmake quick decisions on which appeals todrop.

Overall, the changes mark a fundamental shift to a less"punitive" approachto criminal justice, says Carissima Mathen, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.

"Prime Minister Trudeau has given Jody Wilson-Raybould a very full plate, a very ambitious agenda, a very challenging agenda, but one that if fully realized could really change the face of the justice system in Canada," she said."So a potentially very exciting set of challenges."

Canada's Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers said many of the criminal justice reforms brought in over the last decade wereadhoc and ineffective.

'Rapid-fire' reforms

"They were rapid-fire reforms and often came without a lot of in-depth study and certainly without a lot of understanding about how all of these reforms would affect one another," he said. "The cumulative impact of this very rapid pace of change has yet to be fully felt so it's very important to stand back and have a look and to see whether there are some things that need to be re-calibrated, some things that need to be abandoned and other things that need to be accelerated and really try to re-introduce some coherence back into the system."

JohnMuise, a former Torontopolice officer,National Parole Board member and victims' advocate, hopes the Liberal government doesn't roll back some of the sound measures the Tories brought in to improve public safety, such as tougher penalties for gun crimes and limits on accelerated parole for serious drug dealers.

"There were a number of mandatory minimum sentences and other things that were done that were thoughtful, that were evidence-based, that they just shouldn't touch," he said.

Along with Public Safety Minister RalphGoodaleand Health Minister JanePhilpott,Wilson-Raybouldwill also create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana.

One ofGoodale'sfirst priorities is to repeal the "problematic elements" of the controversialConservative anti-terror law, known asC-51, in a bid tostrike a better balance between security and civil liberties. He willalso be in charge of creating a newoffice forcommunity outreach and co-ordination forcounter-radicalization.

Among the other priorities for the justice minister:

• Lead a process, supported by the health minister, towork with provinces and territories to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada decision on physician-assisted death.
• Address gaps in services to aboriginal people and those with mental illness throughout the criminal justice system.

Other priorities for the public safety minister:

• Enhance compensation benefits for public safety officersdisabled or killed in the line of duty, creating benefits for firefighters, police officers and paramedics.
• Develop a national action plan for public safety officers struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Take action to ensure the RCMP and other workplaces included in his portfolio, are "free from harassment and sexual violence."
• Strengthen controls on hand guns and assault weapons, including repealing some elements of C-42, which changed the gun licensing system. The platform promised to repeal a change to allow restricted and prohibited weapons to be transported without a permit.