Ottawa considers cash for provinces to cope with crime-fighting costs

"This isn't reaching into a big bag of money and taking it out. This is a significant consideration for the government in terms of what it's doing and its current fiscal situation."

He reminded the provinces that justice is a shared jurisdiction and urged them to consider ways to streamline their systems.

"That's a very important aspect, because simply pouring money into a system that may not be functioning 100 per cent won't solve all our problems," he said.

He cited the idea of reducing the frequency of preliminary inquiries in criminal trials as one method to cut costs, along with finding ways to decrease the cost to police of complying with requests for information from defence lawyers.

Ottawa also plans to get rid of the long-gun registry.

Quebec cautioned it won't tolerate Ottawa interfering with its areas of jurisdiction, including policing, and repeated its stand that the gun registry should stay in place.

Calls to keep the registry have grown louder in that province since last month's shootings at Dawson College in Montreal.

"Quebec has asked the federal government to respect its jurisdiction in all initiatives and legislative reforms," said Yvon Marcoux, the province's attorney general.

"We also asked the federal government to assume the financial burdens created."

Estimates on costs for an anti-crime agenda vary widely.

Federal officials say the eventual bill for their anti-crime bills could exceed tens of millions of dollars per year, and an initial package of over $100 million in shared cost programs may be needed in the next federal budget.

Day argued crime may go down as a result of the threat of stiffer sentences.

"On the other side of the ledger is the deterring effect that the legislation . . is going to have on those inclined who might be criminal activity," he said.

With the jam-packed legislative agenda ahead, several key initiatives - such as Ontario's proposals to make it tougher for repeat offenders to obtain bail - appeared to be put on a list of longer term projects.

However, Nova Scotia's calls for reforms to the Youth Criminal Justice Act came in for special mention by Toews.

Two years ago, Halifax resident Theresa McEvoy was killed when her car was hit by a young man who had recently been released into the community while awaiting trial.

Last year the provincial government called an inquiry into the death of McEvoy. The inquiry is expected to release its report this fall.

Toews said Ottawa is eagerly awaiting its recommendations.

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Murray Scott issued a statement saying he had "a commitment from the federal government that changes will be made to improve the Youth Criminal Justice Act."

The final day of the two-day meeting also heard proposals that call for an increase in the maximum sentence from five to 10 years for those who use the Internet to lure children for sexual purposes.

Toews and several provincial justice ministers said they support a private member's bill before the Commons that calls for that step.

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