Yellowknife (Aug 16/06) -If you are a drug dealer or violent offender, the message from Ottawa is clear: the days of conditional sentences could soon be over.

"The idea of leaving dangerous offenders on the street costs and somebody is paying for that," said the Federal Justice Minister Vic Toews. "It's actually cost effective to incarcerate (drug dealers) if we want to save the next generation."

Toews was in Yellowknife last Thursday and Friday to talk with territorial justice officials and social groups about the Conservatives' push to pass Bill C-9 that would, among other provisions, hand out mandatory jail sentences for violent offenders and drug dealers.

The Conservatives also plan to "engage in preventative measures on a number of fronts" including drug rehabilitation during incarceration.

"Meth addicts, for example, should be incarcerated for a period of time to in order to deal with their problems," Toews said.

The question of where to house additional prisoners in the NWT should Bill C-9 pass did not concern Brendan Bell, territorial justice minister.

According to the NWT Department of Corrections, 154 of 181 spaces for adult male prisoners are filled. Females prisoners currently occupy 17 of 20 spaces at the corrections facility in Fort Smith.

Thirty conditional sentences were meted out in the territory last year, according to justice ministry. Director of Policy and Planning, Glen Rutland, said that if Bill C-9 had been in play, it would have affected "about 10-12" of those cases.