Liberals won't back human smuggling bill

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says his party will vote against the Conservatives' proposed human smuggling legislation,Bill C-49,because it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Other opposition parties also lined up with the Liberals against the controversial bill, diminishing its chances of passing second reading.

"We feel after much thought and reflection that this bill is in violation of the charter," Ignatieff said Wednesday, after his morning caucusmeeting.

"Mandatory detention is just not in the Canadian tradition. We think it's not charter-proof, as a result."

Bill C-49 would increase the minimum fines and jail terms for those caught bringing illegal aliens to Canada.

However, the proposed legislation would also affect the people being smuggled. Refugees could spend as much as a year in detention facilities while their claims were being processed.

In its current form, the legislation punishes"the victims, not the criminals," Ignatieff said.

Liberalswill vote against the bill when it eventually goes to second reading,Ignatieff pledged.

But it isn't clearwhen that will happen. The Conservative governmenthasn't yet set a second reading date.

However, Ignatieff said theLiberals are still game to workwith the Tories on "a bill that works."

According to LiberalMP Irwin Cotler, a former federal justice minister, the bill is"littered with charter violations."

"It authorizes mandatory detention for up to 12 months, without independent review something the Supreme Court of Canada has already pronounced itself on, in the [Adil] Charkaoui case, as being illegal."

Bill crafted after MV Sun Sea incident

The Conservative government tabled its smuggling legislation in October, two months after the MV Sun Sea ship carrying hundreds of Tamil migrants docked in B.C.

At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the "abnormal" arrival of the MV Sun Sea created "significant security concerns" that could prompt his government to review current laws.

The government has the right to create measuresto discourage future mass migrant arrivals, but Bill C-49 doesn't target the real problem, the Canadian Bar Association said in a statement Wednesday.

Both the Bloc Qubcois and NDP said they aren't interested in supporting the bill. The Conservatives have so far refused any compromise, and the NDP won't support a law that "targets refugees," said New Democrat MP Olivia Chow.