Pubdate: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 THE IDEOLOGY AND THE REALITY OF LAW AND ORDER "This Is Not the End; This Is Just the Beginning of Our Efforts In This Regard," Said Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson In Introducing the Conservative Government'S New Tough-On-Crime Legislation. Given the inherent flaws of this bill, one shudders to think what the end will be. There are certainly commendable measures proposed in the legislation, pointedly the first bill introduced by the government in this fall sitting of Parliament. Titled the Safe Streets and Communities Act, it is actually a compilation of nine bills previously introduced by the government that failed to pass when the Conservatives formed only a minority administration. However, even advisable measures are in some instances inadvisedly applied. For example, it is not a bad idea to end what has become an overuse of house-arrest penalties for perpetrators of violent crimes. But the provision would also apply to those who commit non-violent offences such as car theft and break and enter, even though prison time in some cases might not be the optimal penalty. Tougher penalties for drug trafficking could prove a benefit to society, but it is hard to envisage how automatic jail time for anyone caught growing as few as six marijuana plants will make our streets any safer. If anything, it is more likely to benefit big-time dealers by discouraging people growing their own for their own consumption. The proposal to hold dangerous and out of-control young people in custody prior to trial for their offences is widely applauded, including by some critics of the Conservative approach. But under the terms of the legislation, many young people who are of minimal danger to society would wind up in jail - with the likelihood of emerging more dangerous than they were going in, after exposure to hardened criminals in detention. The bill's insistence on mandatory sentences, including jail time for relatively minor crimes, suggests a distrust of the Canadian justice system and the wisdom of its judges in particular. Surely judges are more qualified to assess the circumstances of a given case than are parliamentarians, and should have discretionary leeway in handing down sentences. Manifestly inappropriate sentences can always be appealed. The Conservative approach to dealing with crime also fails to take into account societal factors, such as poverty, family breakdowns and learning difficulties, that foster criminal behaviour. Such factors are particularly rife among the aboriginal population that is hugely overrepresented in the country's prison population. The bill's emphasis is on punishment, whose deterrent value is disputable, as opposed to rehabilitation, which is more effective and less expensive in the long run in dealing with criminality. The government's obsession with crime comes at a time when crime rates are in steady decline. True, certain crimes are bucking the general downward trend, but they could be better dealt with by specific measures, not a sledgehammer bill like the one proposed. The government's approach is also clearly modelled on U.S. methods that favour heavy prison sentences as a rule even in cases of relatively minor crime. Yet even some conservative U.S. constituencies are reconsidering this approach as they are faced with unmanageable and unaffordable prison systems. It is also disturbing that while the crime fighting initiative will result in a substantial increase in the nation's prison population, and require the building of new jails, the government is being cagey about revealing the projected cost of its measures at a time when the federal budget is in deficit. If the government has no idea what the cost will be, it is being foolish in its approach. If it knows and is not telling us, it is being devious. It is true that the Conservatives were open about their intentions in this respect before and during the election campaign and can now ram through the legislation with their parliamentary majority. But it should also be noted that while the Conservatives have a majority of parliamentary seats, a majority of Canadians - slightly more than 60 per cent - voted for parties that oppose these measures. When the matter of the steadily falling crime rate was raised, the justice minister said the government is not governing on the basis of statistics. But in this case it could be expected to govern on the basis of common sense rather than law-and-order ideology. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.