mandatory minimums
Is Canada tough on crime or doing just fine?
By Ken MacQueen, MacleansIf hard criminals do soft time in Canada, as the federal Conservative government insists, then John Virgil Punko seems a poster boy for all that’s wrong with the judicial system. In police jargon, Punko was “a low-level mope”—a full-patch member of the Vancouver East End Hells Angels with a healthy dose of greed and a bad addiction to Percocet. Such vulnerabilities made him a useful target in 2003 when the RCMP launched E-Pandora, a $10-million sting operation aiming at netting the big fish in the East End Angels.
New stats used to defend claim
By Darrell Bellaart, Daily NewsNanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney is taking on criminologists who criticized his "irresponsible" and "unsubstantiated claims" about rising unreported crime.
Ten Vancouver Island instructors challenged Lunney's claim that unreported crimes are rising in Canada, which Lunney made in the spring edition of Contact, his constituency newsletter.
Now Lunney is using that same vehicle to cite another source, a study on police-reported crime showing it fell 3% in 2009, to 2.2 million crimes.
It's not clear if the drop means fewer crimes or fewer are being reported but Lunney's critics say Conservatives used flawed data to support tough-on-crime policies.
Women prisoners make love, guards leer
By: Shawn Syms, Xtra NewsAccording to RCMP policy — specifically section 19.3.5.4.2 — "limitations of space and guard personnel will exist in some locations, necessitating opposite-gender monitoring of prisoners, but, where possible and practical, reasonable effort should be made to ensure that prisoner modesty is preserved." But four RCMP officers (and three civilian staff members) at a Kamloops, BC, police station apparently thought it was okay to watch female prisoners having sex in a holding cell on Aug 18.
Free message ignored plan for jails, sentences
By: Alan Coxwell Stirling, The IntelligencerWhat an extreme pleasure it was to receive yet another postage-free, feel-good message from our Hastings & Prince Edward Member of Parliament in my rural mailbox last week.
In his two-page note Daryl Kramp told me "Conservatives Standing Up for Canadian Consumers" is what his government has been doing up on Parliament Hill during these dog days of the summer of 2010.
Featured prominently was a smiling, 30- something couple heading back to their car in a mall parking lot with a couple of kids in an otherwise empty shopping cart.
Canada's Conservatives Try Again with Mandatory Minimum Drug Bill [FEATURE]
By Phillip Smith, Stop the Drug WarCanada's Conservative minority government hopes the third time is the charm for its controversial measure to increase sentences for marijuana cultivation and introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses. Now known as S-10, the measure will be taken up by the Senate when it returns from recess at end of next month.
The bill is designed to "send a message" that "if you sell or produce drugs, you'll pay with jail time," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said when re-filing the bill in May.
RCMP labs fail in crime fight
Times ColonistIf the Conservative government was serious about being "tough on crime" it wouldn't tolerate a broken RCMP lab system that leaves officers routinely waiting months -- or years -- for critical results.
We are not talking about minor offences. In April 2009, Paul Rouxel was found dead in his Victoria apartment. Only this week, 16 months later, did police announce he was a homicide victim. Long delays in getting results from the RCMP's Vancouver forensic lab played a major role in the destructive wait.
That kind of delay makes solving any crime much more difficult. Neighbours and witnesses move; memories fade; the killers disappear to another province or country.
Rule of law Many problems affect administration of justice in the northwest
By Margaret Speirs - Terrace StandardTHE NORTHWEST has more than its fair share of problems delivering justice, the president of the BC branch of the Canadian Bar Association acknowledged during a tour of the area.
James Bond, a lawyer from Vancouver, met with lawyers from the area to get their opinions on how things are working here.
A lack of judges
“I think that generally speaking provincial courts at the provincial level, there is a problem across the province with a lack of judges currently,” said Bond.
“I think it’s more pronounced here than in other areas. I think you guys are somewhat worse off than fellow British Columbians.”
Crime rate has fallen 15 per cent, but Conservative government still pushing law and order agenda
By: HARRIS MACLEOD, The Hill TimesThe Parliamentary Budget Officer would prefer not to do any more studies into the costs of the Harper government's slate of law and order legislation, saying it's now up to Parliamentarians to demand that full cost estimates are provided for the rest of the proposed changes to the justice system.
Liberal Public Safety critic Mark Holland (Ajax-Pickering, Ont.) asked Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page to analyse the costs of all the government's proposed justice legislation. To date, the PBO has only reported on the costs of Bill C-25, the so-called truth in sentencing act, a bill to limit credit given for time served in pre-sentencing custody.
End Prohibition in National Post Full Comment
By: Nicole Seguin, National Post Full CommentMr. Toews states that the Conservative government is ‘unwavering in its commitment to providing law-enforcement agencies with the tools they need to make our streets safer.’
Except, it would seem, for the gun registry. The program’s strongest supporters include three national police organizations: the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the Canadian Association of Police Boards, and the Canadian Police Association. These organizations count the registry as a “valuable tool”, and have spoken out against bill C-391, which continues to be pushed by Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner.
An ineffective way to fight crime
Re: Why we’re tough on crime, Aug. 13.Public Safety Minister Vic Toews insists that the prison farms had to close because they cost $4-million to operate and, by his account, were worthless because inmates didn’t get jobs on farms after release.
Yet he somehow tries to justify the expansion of old and new prisons, without admitting the cost will be well into $9 Billion and much higher over time, even though that clearly proves there will be more people imprisoned at an alarming rate, not more people rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
