City mayor to testify before Senate on drug offence sentencing
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Updated: November 05, 2009 3:15 PM
Drug offences are high on the agenda for Langley City’s mayor.
Peter Fassbender has been asked to testify in front of a Senate committee on Bill C-15, which calls for mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes.
When he flies to Ottawa this week, his message will be that the Senate should waste no time in passing the bill, Fassbender told council at Monday night’s meeting.
As to why he’s been invited to speak, Fassbender isn’t entirely certain, but he’s happy to be asked.
“I was thrilled they phoned me, but it was out of the blue,” he said.
“I’ve been very outspoken on the issue,” he added.
Several months ago, Fassbender was also a witness, along with Surrey mayor Diane Watts and Delta’s Lois Jackson, in front of a Parliamentary committee on the issue, he said.
Fassbender has discussed the problem at length with other Metro Vancouver mayors, the RCMP and a UCFV criminology professor. All agree the legislation is overdue, said Fassbender.
“The clear position is that there should be minimum mandatory sentences for people with marijuana grow operations and clandestine meth labs,” said Fassbender.
The bill is not aimed at people who keep a marijuana plant hidden away for their own use, he said, but the criminals whose sole purpose is to produce illegal drugs for sale across the U.S./Canada border.
“Organized crime has no respect for the community,” he said. “It’s pretty straight forward, if you do the crime, you should do the time.”
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