HARPER VOWS TOUGH DRUG POLICY

Tory Leader Would Set Mandatory Sentences, Scrap Liberals' Plan To
Decriminalize Marijuana

BURNABY, B.C. - Conservative leader Stephen Harper blasted Prime
Minister Paul Martin yesterday for failing to present a vision for the
country in the first week of the election campaign, and said he does
not expect to hear "very much" from the Liberals before Canadians go
to the polls Jan. 23.

Wrapping up a week of Tory promises, Mr. Harper was in a Vancouver
suburb to release his party's plan to crack down on drug crimes,
promising to impose mandatory minimum sentences, eliminate conditional
sentences such as house arrest, bring in tougher fines for drug
traffickers and producers, scrap plans made by the Liberals to
decriminalize marijuana, and introduce a national drug strategy
targeted at Canadian youth. Many of the measures are staples of
Conservative policy.

Mr. Harper, who has promised to cut the GST to five per cent, tackle
hospital wait times and create a special office to oversee federal
criminal prosecutions, also accused Mr. Martin of abandoning Quebec
Premier Jean Charest and focusing instead on the separatist threat
posed by the Bloc Quebecois, and enabling drug use and drug addiction
through weak law-and-order policies.

Mr. Martin took a day off from the campaign yesterday, but Health
Minister Ujjal Dosanjh defended the prime minister's approach, which
has involved rolling out TV ads and delivering speeches in Montreal
and southern Ontario promoting the government's record, and making
minor policy announcements.

"We're all doing what we need to do," Mr. Dosanjh said. "We have
different ways of approaching these issues, and we're seeing Stephen
Harper going ahead with policies that are not well thought out."

The Tory approach to drug crimes would slap mandatory minimum
sentences of at least two years for trafficking so-called hard drugs,
such as heroin, cocaine and crystal meth. It would also apply the same
penalties to similar offences involving bulk amounts of marijuana or
hashish. Fines for trafficking or producing drugs would be increased
to "reflect the street value" and would escalate for repeat offences.

Mr. Harper also vowed to scrap plans for a safe-injection site in
Vancouver that is being set up to control the city's overwhelming
problem with heroin addiction, saying it will be a "priority" not to
use taxpayers' money to "fund" drug use.

The Conservative leader said the federal government must send a clear
message that the proliferation of illegal drugs is
unacceptable.

"Our values are under attack," he told reporters, adding that ensuring
a peaceful and safe society is "a value that none of the other parties
seem to care about."

The Liberal campaign also criticized the Tories yesterday, pointing
out that one of the Conservative candidates in attendance at the
Burnaby announcement was Darrel Reid, who is running in Richmond, B.C.

Mr. Reid is a former president of Focus on the Family Canada, a
religious lobby group seeking to have politicians reverse federal
same-sex marriage legislation. He told reporters he supports Mr.
Harper's promise earlier this week to introduce a motion in the
Commons asking MPs if they want legislation introduced that would
change the definition of marriage, which now covers gay and lesbian
unions.

The vote would be free, he said, and existing gay marriages would be
recognized.

"I think people know that I've been in support of marriage and will
continue to support marriage. I'm also going to survey my
constituents. I think everybody deserves to have a say on this issue,"
Mr. Reid said.

But he said he would have trouble accepting the will of those
constituents if they came out overwhelmingly in support of gay marriage.

"Would I vote against my conscience? I think that would be pretty
tough. I think for anybody it's tough to vote against their
conscience," he said.