OTTAWA — As the year ends, Justice Minister Peter MacKay is strongly hinting that steps to modernize Canada's marijuana laws might be just around the corner.

Fining pot smokers for possession of small amounts is one policy the government will likely consider.

"That doesn't mean decriminalizing or legalizing, but it does mean giving police options, for example, to issue fines in addition to any other sanctions, or as a substitute for other sanctions," MacKay told QMI Agency. "These are things that we are willing to look at in the new year, but there's been no decision taken."

This is the first time the Conservatives have mentioned the idea since Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the feds were looking "very carefully" at it in August.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police says fining pot smokers may be just the ticket to give officers an option other than ignoring law-breakers or criminally charging them, setting up a long, expensive legal process.

The Tories may also be feeling the heat as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau remains high in the polls, even after admitting to illegally smoking pot while serving as an MP and supporting full legalization of the drug.

MacKay couldn't resist taking a shot at Trudeau, saying the Grit pot policy is "a weak substitute for a lack of fiscal, economic or foreign policy."

Trudeau has also questioned the wisdom of imposing mandatory minimum prison terms for various crimes, a policy the Conservatives have embraced enthusiastically since forming a government in 2006.

MacKay says the government won't back down now.

"It sends a very strong message of deterrence, condemnation and public abhorrence of certain types of offences," he said. "And we're talking about predominantly serious, violent offences -- offences that involve sexual assaults on children; that involve distribution of drugs to children; that very much offend Canadian values."

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) predicted the prison population would explode to almost 19,000 federal inmates this year because of the Tories' new mandatory minimums on repeat offenders.

That prediction never materialized.

The latest CSC head count actually found around 15,000 federal inmates.

MacKay says he doesn't know why the original projections were so wrong, unless they only amounted to "political rhetoric or alarmist thinking."

The justice minister might also have to deal with Canada's prostitution laws in 2014.

On Friday, the Supreme Court will rule on three former hookers' constitutional challenge of Canada's prostitution laws.

While the feds wait for that, Conservative MP Joy Smith is pushing for an approach to prostitution similar to Sweden's -- the so-called Nordic model of putting johns in prison, while offering prostitutes an escape route.

MacKay says he's not sure that's the right approach.

"I'm not entirely convinced that the direction that has been attempted in other countries, and this Nordic model being one, is the right fit for Canada," he said. "We do believe that the current Criminal Code provisions are constitutionally sound, or we would not be making the arguments that we're making before the Supreme Court."

The feds have vigorously defended Canada's bans on brothels, living off the avails of prostitution and communicating for the purpose of prostitution.