Pubdate: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 Source: Maple Creek News-Times (CN SN) Copyright: 2008 Maple Creek News Contact: http://www.maplecreeknews.com/forms/letterToEditor.php Website: http://www.maplecreeknews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2695 Author: Wayne Litke Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs) ARE JUDGES USING DOPE? For decades, citizens have expressed concern that Canada is moving toward a police state. There was the FLQ crisis that saw former prime minister Pierre Trudeau evoke the War Measures Act in 1970 which allowed anyone to be detained at anytime. Civil rights were waived if a person was suspected of having a link to a criminal or offense. Indefinite imprisonment was the result. Trudeau's government also began the very unpopular process of forcing firearm owners to register themselves and guns that were deemed to present greater potential danger to the public and were therefore restricted. Around the world, various forms of terrorism were initiated and then refined. The most utilized technique quickly became suicide bombing which indiscriminately kills anyone, but most recently civilians are the targets of choice. Like the perpetrators of such violence, shrapnel has no conscience. In light of such hellish tactics, governments and law enforcement agencies have been playing catch-up and are working to make our lives safer, but it comes at a cost to our personal freedoms. Thanks to anti-terrorism legislation, Canadians with suspected links to radical groups can be detained indefinitely without the reasons or evidence ever being disclosed publicly. It's a real balancing act to increase public protection without severely infringing on peoples' rights. Airports have attempted to do just that in light of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre. As a result, security on commercial flights has been improved somewhat, but at a huge cost that anyone who flies realizes as soon as they purchase a ticket. The battle for public safety also includes the war against drugs, gangs and the people who proliferate both. Unfortunately, organizations such as the Hell's Angels have been able to survive and grow by manipulating laws that were designed to protect the public from such evils. A recent case involved a British Columbia judge determining that the bikers' club and activities by members did not constitute a criminal offence. If that is the best our public prosecutors and judges can do, then we are in deep trouble. It's not that we need new legislation and laws that will be challenged in court by organizations that have millions of dollars in dirty money, we need judges who will make common sense decisions. For example, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that the use of a drug-sniffing dog was illegal when police searched a Catholic high school in 2002. As far as I know, neither the principal nor the board of education objected to the search since it would help ensure a healthy learning environment. In fact, such searches have been routinely conducted in the past. Law-abiding students did not protest against the search, and no one challenged the police until drugs (10 bags of pot) were discovered in a student's backpack. Then it was the search and not the drugs at school that became the focal point, and that's how the issue became twisted. With that skewed reasoning the Supreme Court decided 6-3 that such searches violate students' right to privacy in a school environment. Does that also go for brass knuckles, knives and guns? Would the judges feel the same if the dope had ended up in the hands of their sons or daughters? Who are our judges (that are paid with public funds) protecting-the public or the law breaker? Since when does the actions of one person who is breaking the law supercede public safety? Believing that personal privacy in a public place is more important than protecting students is totally illogical in light of school shootings that are becoming more commonplace. Perhaps it's time sniffer dogs start searching chambers at the Supreme Court of Canada. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin