OTTAWA -- The Conservative government will start rolling out its crime-and-punishment agenda early next week with a bill to make it easier to designate three-time criminals as dangerous offenders and jail them indefinitely.

The government will table a Canadian version of a controversial "three-strikes" law, which exists in some American states, by proposing that certain offenders who commit three sex or other violent crimes will be presumed to be a dangerous offender unless they can convince a judge otherwise.

The opposition parties and other critics decried the coming legislation as an affront to Canadian values of fair punishment and a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The legislation is one of about 15 justice bills that the Conservatives have on the drawing board to be introduced in the House of Commons in the coming months as part of the government's ambitious law-and-order agenda to take to voters in the next election.

The dangerous-offender legislation, likely to be tabled Tuesday, was originally expected this week but it was delayed as the Conservatives grappled with last-minute wrangling over whether their proposal could survive a constitutional challenge, said a government insider.

Justice Minister Vic Toews confirmed Wednesday that the Conservatives will go ahead with a bill, based on an election promise, but he bristled at comparing it to habitual offender laws in states like California, where three-time offenders have been handed lengthy prison terms for such things as shoplifting golf clubs.

There were calls earlier this summer to toughen Canada's dangerous-offender laws during a manhunt for convicted pedophile Peter Whitmore, who was later charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a Manitoba teenager and a young Saskatchewan boy.

At the time, Toews acknowledged he could have trouble passing dangerous offender legislation in a minority Parliament and he mused about whether it was worth his time.

In an interview with CanWest News Service, he said that prosecutors are reluctant to seek dangerous offender status and rather than toughening existing laws, he might opt to work with his provincial counterparts to devise national standards for when to seek declarations.

Botham noted that the existing legislation survived an earlier court challenge on the grounds that it applies only to a small group of people and there are several hurdles to overcome before a designation can be made.

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