Canadian drug convicts unhappy in U.S.

OTTAWA, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Canada's public safety minister is being sued by two Canadians who want to come home instead of serving time in California prisons for drug smuggling.

The man and woman from British Columbia are being represented by Vancouver lawyer John Conroy, who claims Minister Stockwell Day is acting in contempt of court by refusing to allow the pair to serve their time in Canadian prisons, the Canwest News Service report Monday.

Since the Conservative party came to power in 2006, Day has repeatedly denied prisoner transfers, claiming they "constitute a threat to the security of Canada." However, in August a federal judge ruled Day was using the security threat reasoning too liberally, the report said.

Winnie Lam is serving a seven-year sentence after she was caught at the Seattle airport with 1,000 ecstasy pills, while trucker Steve Czinege was convicted of trying to smuggle more than 50 pounds of cocaine worth $1.8 million into Canada in a truck's fuel tanks in 2006.

There was no immediate response from Day's office on the lawsuit, the report said.