Supreme Court will hear another mandatory minimum case, this time for drugs

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear another case involving a mandatory minimum sentence, a hallmark of the Harper government’s anti-crime agenda.

Joseph Ryan Lloyd of British Columbia was convicted last year of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and was subject to a mandatory one-year sentence because of an earlier, similar conviction.

The provincial trial judge ruled the law was unconstitutional, although Lloyd was sentenced to a year.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal said the provincial court judge overstepped by declaring the law unconstitutional.

The appeal judges imposed an 18-month sentence.

The Supreme Court gave no reasons for hearing the case, but the justices struck down a mandatory minimum sentence for gun offences earlier this month.