No wait: Unintended, negative consequences of Canada's omnibus crime bill hit citizens, provinces

The Province newspaper in British Columbia reported that changes in reporting of old convictions resulting from C-10, the omnibus anti-crime bill pushed through Canada's Parliament this month by the current Conservative government, are having dramatic unintended consequences.

A 50-year old man on his way to meet his family at their second home near Palm Springs, CA was stopped by U.S. officials when Canadian records now reveal that he has a marijuana conviction from when he was 18-years old.

This is a classic example of the consequences of over-breadth in drafting laws. It leads to lumping together the kid who shares or sells marijuana to his friends and the organized crime figure.

Ontario expects that the law will cost it $1 billion per year. Ontario expects that its prison population will expand by 1500, and plans to build a new 1000 bed prion.

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