Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Police chiefs call for balance in Conservative crime agenda

OTTAWA -- Canadian police chiefs are calling on the Conservative government to balance its “tough on crime” agenda with new legislation.

“Is there a balance needed? Absolutely,” said Dale McFee, president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. “Crime prevention and intervention are equally as important as is the enforcement aspect.”

In an interview with The West Block’s host Tom Clark, McFee said the association “hopes” government comes forward with a supplementary bill to fill those gaps left in Bill C-10, which is poised to pass into law.

“I don’t think you can do one without the other, and I think that’s a message that we really have to start getting collectively together. “

The legislation currently weaving its way through Parliament is a collection of nine bills, with most of the content taken from legislation the Conservatives previously tried to pass during their minority days.

The proposed laws would, among other things, create new offences under the criminal code, introduce mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offences and toughen the youth justice system.

The legislation has been vastly criticized for focusing on throwing offenders – especially young ones -- into jail rather than taking a rehabilitative approach.

Quebec’s Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier said putting young offenders behind bars is nothing more than a short-term solution that ignores the roots and causes of the problem.

Bill C-10 also shifts a lot of the power in decision making out of the hands of judges and into the hands of Crown prosecutors, the vice chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s national criminal justice section told The West Block.

“Defence lawyers across the country are going to be talking to those Crown prosecutors and asking them to, perhaps, drop certain charges and lay new charges – ones that don’t have mandatory minimum penalties,” Eric Gottardi said, explaining how some lawyers will try to skirt the new “harsh” minimums that will soon become law.

Origin
Source: Global 

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