Dear Editor:
Wetaskiwin MP Blaine Calkins cheered our hearts with his article in a recent edition of the Ponoka News as he outlined for us all the measures “The Harper Government” is taking to make Canadians feel safer. There is the Combatting Terrorism law, the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, as well encouragement of the creation of Integrated National Security Teams in the RCMP.
About the only measures or acts missing is the Lock Your Door and Hide in the Basement Act, and the Defense Against the Governments Attacks on Your Freedom Act. This last one would be really helpful these days.
The government’s campaign to stimulate fear and anxiety among the Canadian population fits right in with Vic Toews proposal to build more and bigger prisons to house the hordes of criminals threatening our lives.
Apparently, neither Toews or Calkins, or Harper for that matter, appear to be aware the national statistics demonstrate that the crime rate in Canada is falling, rather than rising in all areas except drug use and impaired driving offences — apparently a specialty of Ponoka-area residents.
This astute trio of lawmakers also seem to be unaware that jailing more people, while cutting rehabilitative programs in prisons, simply sends an offender back out onto the street with no more options than he had previously. His logical choice is more criminal activity. Incarcerating more people in this manner, with little attention to their rehabilitation and change, actually makes the community less safe, rather than more safe.
Current policies of our present government — oh, sorry — The Harper Government, is quite likely to cause crime statistics to rise rather than to fall. I wonder whom Blaine and Stephen will blame when that happens?
James Strachan