Crime and punishment sold in a bundle
crime
Conservatives' crime-and-punishment plans will cost us all
Stephen Harper's reaffirmation of his tough-on-crime agenda on Sunday, Jan. 23, the fifth anniversary of his gaining power, came at an odd time. Just days before, uber-conservative American Newt Gingrich had publicly denounced the lock 'em up approach.
In a Washington Post article, entitled, Prison Reform: A smart way for states to save money and lives, Gingrich and co-writer Pat Nolan stated: "There is an urgent need to address the astronomical growth in the prison population, with its huge costs in dollars and lost human potential."
The Conservative prison policy is a white elephant with bars
In its first major policy announcements of 2011, the Conservative government revealed eight additional prison expansions, putting new bars on the windows and adding new walls to (by latest count) 24 facilities across Canada, at a cost of $2 billion over five years.
In his year-end summary of good works from his government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper lauded their efforts at crime fighting. Of the domestic list of 13 "major successes achieved," fully seven involved legislation to get tough on crime.
Gun registry is not a threat to freedom
On a list of favourite activities, renewing my car registration would rank rather low. Still, having done it recently, I can attest that it didn't feel like an assault on my freedom.
Other car owners with me in line seemed similarly undisturbed, apparently realizing this was part of a rather sensible system of licensing and registering drivers and vehicles in an attempt to ensure that the powerful, motorized vehicles we drive at great speeds kill and injure fewer people.
Yet, strangely, this week parliamentarians seem set to vote for a Conservative private member's bill to scrap a registry that provides a similar system of regulatory control -- but for a product that is far more likely to kill.
Fearmonger and Through The Glass: Books that undermine Harper's omnibus crime bill
Through The Glass
(Doubleday Canada,
2011;
$32.95)
Fearmonger: Stephen Harper's Tough On Crime Agenda
by Paula Mallea (Lorimer 2011; $24.95)
It's a rare event in the Canadian publishing world when non-fiction books line up in sync with current events, but these two titles are perfectly timed as Canadians consider the serious consequences of the Harper government's dramatic omnibus crime bill, one that will radically alter an already deteriorating judicial system.
Stop crime bill c-10: Canadian families for fiscal and social responsibility
Nov 26 2011 - 12:00pm
Nov 26 2011 - 3:00pm
Location
Parliament Hill - Ottawa
Ottawa, ON
Canada
45° 25' 17.508" N, 75° 41' 49.8948" W
See map: Google Maps
Ottawa Ppotest to end omnibus crime Bill C-10 - Families for fiscal and social responsibility!
"Jobs not jails"
Speakers to include:
Kim Pate, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (winner of the 2011 Governor General's Award)
Catherine Latimer, Executive Director, John Howard Society of Canada
In days, the Conservative Government of Canada will try to push through a crime law that could drastically raise our taxes and dole out harsher punishments for marijuana users than pedophiles. It is seen as a wrong turn for our country that will change the face of our democracy so drastically that Quebec and Ontario have refused to pay for the bad law.
Contact email:
![Karl Nerenberg](http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/imagecache/thumbnail/category_pictures/Karl.jpg "Karl Nerenberg joins rabble to cover news for the rest of us from Parliament Hill. Karl has been a journalist for over 25 years including eight years as the producer of the CBC show The House. He has written scripts for documentary films and long-form television reports for such shows as Le Point and Actuel on Radio Canada television and The Journal on CBC-TV. Karl also founded and, for five years, edited the magazine Federations: What's new in federalism worldwide.
Karl has been awarded a Gemini award, a Best International Documentary Series award (from "la communauté des televisions francophones"), a CBC Radio Award for Best New Series (C'est la vie) among others. As a broadcaster, Mr. Nerenberg produced and directed television series and documentaries in a wide range of genres and on a great variety of subjects -- from civil war in Central America, to the crisis in South Africa's Apartheid system.
Karl works in both English and French, and can be reached at karl@rabble.ca")
