Says Steve:
"The truth of the matter is, those who say that the tougher penalties on perpetrators will not work don’t want them to work because they don’t believe in his kind of approach," he told reporters.
"We know that we’re going to hear these critics, and we know that we’re going to hear the opposition parrot some of these critics because they all believe in soft-on-crime policies."
No, you moron. As I point out back here, what the Conservatives are proposing is fundamentally unable to address the real issues that lead to gang violence. At most, you're going to fill up our jails with petty thugs, meanwhile the serious criminals - the ones who run the illegitimate 'businesses' that these gangs are the front lines of, continue to get away with it unchallenged.
Michael Chettleburgh, a criminal justice analyst and author of Young Thugs, which chronicles the rise of Canada's homegrown gang culture, said the Tories' measures won't add much clarity to how ill-equipped the justice system is to handle gang violence in Canada.
"Right now we are navigating in the fog around the gang issue," he told CBC News from Toronto.
"For many gang members, tougher laws doesn't matter. They don't pay attention to tougher laws."
He said Canada is lagging behind compared to the recent changes made in the United States, such as allowing the testimony of witnesses against gangs to be entered into court records without the witness having to stand before the court.
This legislation, like just about every other "major" piece of legislation I've seen come out since 2006 is barely window dressing - and in this case, it's less than that.
3 comments:
Gang problem??
The biggest gang problem that I worry about is the Social Credit - Reform - Alliance - Regressive Conservative gang that has taken over this country and is a threat to minorities everywhere.
The easiest way to deal with this gang problem is to have an election.
What about Kent Hehr's bill 201? He's a Liberal and he wants to increase fines for having an illegal weapon.
I live in Queensland and guns are an issue for me out here.
I'm not terribly familiar with Kent Hehr's bill.
I don't necessarily have a problem with changing penalties around, what I have a problem with here is being told that doing so has anything at all to do with disabling criminal gang activity.
It doesn't, it won't, and I don't think that the Harper government understands what they need to address in order to bring gangs down.
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