Nunavut justice minister trashes Tory crime bill

OTTAWA — Nunavut's justice minister has delivered a stinging rebuke to the Conservative government's massive new crime bill.

Daniel Shewchuk told a Senate committee that new mandatory minimum sentences will overburden the territory's courts and corrections system and run counter to Criminal Code provisions on the treatment of aboriginal offenders.

Shewchuk told the Tory-dominated committee that taking discretion away from judges is not the answer and that flexibility needs to be put back into the legislation.

The omnibus bill combines nine different pieces of legislation, covering everything from drug and sex crimes to young offenders, criminal pardons and the issue of Canadians jailed abroad.

Shewchuk noted that the new mandatory minimums override a section of the Criminal Code that ensures judges take into account unique aboriginal conditions when sentencing.

And he contradicted claims by Conservative cabinet ministers that provinces and territories have been consulted and largely approve of the reforms, saying instead that there's been "minimal consultation" and the legislative process has been too rushed.