Anti-crime bills deserved to die in Canada
Feb 04, 2010
from the comment by Elizabeth Woods in Times Colonist:
The editorial on prorogation (Jan. 5) mentions that among the bills that died with this parliamentary session were many parts of "Harper's tough on crime agenda."
This is the one good result of prorogation as these bills contained very bad criminal law.
Stephen Harper is not "tough on crime"-- he is soft in the head on crime, preferring to build more prisons -- the most expensive, least effective form of influencing behaviour -- instead of investing in preventive measures, such as early childhood care and education, and the alleviation of poverty.
Despite Harper's claims, harsh sentences do not reduce the incidence of crime; among many reasons, punishment focuses miscreants' attention on their own pain, making them less likely to consider the pain they've caused others.
Restorative justice is a better approach, but Harper prefers to practise cheap politics by playing on people's fears of crime, even though crime in general is decreasing.
