Pubdate: Fri, 16 Mar 2012
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Doug Cuthand

CRIME LEGISLATION A REGRESSIVE STEP FOR CANADA

Canada took a major step backward this week by erasing more than 50 
years of prison reform and progressive policies to deal with crime.

What we have today is a criminal justice system that is overly 
simplistic and revenge oriented. The omnibus act, known as Bill C-10, 
is 150 pages in length and consists of several pieces of legislation.

It was rushed through Parliament to meet the Conservatives' campaign 
promise to pass it within a 100-day time frame. There was no public 
pressure on the government for speedy passage. This purely was an 
agenda set by the government itself.

Now we're faced with an American-style justice system with mandatory 
minimum sentences and a tough-on-crime war on drugs that, by all 
indications, have been a miserable failure. Jails in the U.S. are 
crammed with small time offenders, and cost cash-strapped governments 
more than they can afford. Drugs remain a problem, and the war on 
drugs has done little to reduce the epidemic.

For some unknown reason, the federal Conservatives are repeating 
these mistakes. Einstein stated that the definition of insanity was 
to do the same thing over and over, expecting different results. The 
Conservatives haven't learned anything from the judicial mess to the 
south. This Tory travesty will change the face of Canada's courts and 
corrections. Judges will be forced to apply mandatory minimum 
sentences regardless of the circumstances. Mandatory minimums are a 
blunt instrument that lump all the offenders in one pile and treat 
their offence as the same. Somehow, the Conservative caucus knows 
more about sentencing and crime than learned judges who have sat on 
the bench for years.

In Ontario, Judge Anne Molloy recently refused to impose a mandatory 
sentence of three years on an offender who illegally had possession 
of a loaded handgun. While the man showed "colossally bad judgment," 
she said, a three-year minimum sentence was out of proportion to his 
crime. We can expect that more cases in the future will see judges 
reduce mandatory sentences, or cases challenged under the charter of rights.

Changes that will occur in corrections will include tougher sentences 
for repeat young offenders, including jail time in adult 
institutions. Most people would agree that violent criminals should 
receive sentences that remove them from society so they can get help, 
particularly young offenders who have their whole life ahead of them.

However this legislation expands the definition of what is considered 
a violent offence, for example to include "creating a substantial 
likelihood of causing bodily harm." In other words, an offender who 
looks at a police officer the wrong way they could be charged with 
committing a violent offence. This is far too subjective and open to abuse.

That is the big fear about this legislation. It will have the worst 
impact on those who can least afford it. Following the example in the 
U.S., it could be the poor, mentally ill and minorities who suffer 
the most under such tough-on-crime legislation.

Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo sees a future 
where First Nations youth have a greater chance of going to jail than 
going to school. Speaking to the Senate's legal and constitutional 
affairs committee Atleo said that Bill C-10 will make it even harder 
to break the cycle of crime that traps many aboriginal youth.

The legislation is titled the Safe Streets and Communities Act, but 
will have the opposite effect. Stiffer sentences will lead to more 
hardened criminals. It's no secret that jails are crime colleges and 
gang incubators. Men and women both learn more about crime while they 
are in jail. They are forced to join gangs for self protection, and 
return to society cynical and more likely to reoffend. Our 
communities will become dangerous instead of safer.

The spin from Conservatives is that longer sentences will increase 
opportunities for rehabilitation. This claim is completely specious 
and totally naive. How can we sensibly expect that this penny 
pinching government to still have money for rehabilitation after 
spending hundreds of millions on jail construction and staff 
increases? It doesn't take a genius to realize that rehab programs 
will come last.

The way things stand now, we will continue to see the 
institutionalization of First Nations and aboriginal people. 
Historically when the government doesn't know what to do, or it fears 
a group it has institutionalized them and taken away their ability to 
care for themselves. That's been the history of aboriginal people in Canada.

I can foresee a group of ex-offenders in the future launching a 
class-action suit against the federal government, similar to the 
residential school lawsuits and the pending action from the children 
of the "big scoop," who were placed in foster homes outside their 
culture and far from home.

The new crime bill will do irreparable damage to our people, cost 
taxpayers billions, create a jail industry and then fail miserably.

Instead, governments need to get at the root of the problem. They 
need to address child poverty, and create better services for the 
mentally ill. Young offenders need to be diverted away from adult 
jails to stop the cycle of crime. All governments in Canada need to 
build a better country for all citizens. This crime bill will not 
create a better country.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom