SOME LEGAL EXPERTS DON'T LIKE ALLIANCE PLAN TO COLLECT DNA
WebPosted Wed Nov 15 15:07:32 2000

REGINA--Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day spent much of Tuesday 
touting his party's policy on law and order. But legal experts say one 
aspect of that policy should get more attention than it has so far. 

 CBC COVERAGE: The Federal Election Among the measures Day described 
yesterday as "some very significant changes that Canadians have been 
asking for" is one that a critic has called "incredibly stupid." 

 Lawyer Clayton Ruby says the idea of requiring everyone charged with an 
indictable offence to give a DNA sample is a waste of money. He says DNA 
analysis is an expensive process. 

 RELATED STORY: Party leaders hammer away on law and order, health care 
issues But besides the money, demanding such a sample from people who 
have yet to stand trial rings alarm bells on the human rights scale. 

 "It's utterly intrusive," said Ruby. "At the moment, we take DNA samples 
only for truly serious offences, and only after a conviction." 

 Ruby says taking samples without a conviction violates the notion of the 
accused being presumed innocent until proven guilty. 

 Stockwell Day 

 And a leading constitutional expert calls the plan a reprehensible 
breach of personal freedom. 

 "I would see it as an extraordinarily illiberal policy," said Peter 
Russell, professor emeritus of Constitutional Law at the University of 
Toronto. "Forcing people to give a blood sample merely when the police 
have laid a charge is a gross violation of freedom, regardless of what 
the judges might say." 

 And the judges will be heard from on the issue, said Russell, as such a 
policy would undoubtedly be challenged in court. 

 
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