CBC News on-line
**Excerpt**
A Conservative government would legislate mandatory minimum prison sentences of at least two years for people convicted of serious drug offences, party leader Stephen Harper says.
The terms would apply to people convicted of trafficking, manufacturing or importing hard drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, Harper said Saturday during an election stop in Burnaby, B.C.
He wasn't the only federal leader to hit the campaign trail Saturday in British Columbia, which is considered a key battleground in the election. Jack Layton was also in the province, promising tough action in the softwood lumber dispute with the United States.
The Conservatives currently hold the most seats in the province but they're facing a challenge to keep them, with many tight three-way races being fought on the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
Harper also said his party would introduce mandatory prison time for anyone convicted of running marijuana grow operations.
He said the Tories would ban conditional sentences and house arrest for serious and repeat drug offenders.
"Criminals who are cultivating marijuana in grow ops, manufacturing crystal meth in labs or selling crack cocaine on our streets have to know if they are caught, they will not get a slap on the wrist," Harper said.
"They will go to prison. It is a serious crime and they will do serious time. A Conservative government will fight the plague of drugs in our cities and our communities," he said.
Harper acknowledged that Canada is "a remarkably peaceful society," even in its biggest cities, but that can't be taken for granted.
"Crime and drugs now reach places they shouldn't – our parks, our schoolyards, even our churches. Our values are under attack and we must take action to protect those values."
Harper reiterated his promise not to re-introduce the Liberal plan to soften marijuana possession laws.
He said while the Conservatives are in favour of prevention and treatment programs for drug addicts, these are "no substitutes for tough law enforcement."
