During five years in minority government, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives
introduced 61 crime bills. In doing so, they successfully portrayed
themselves as favouring harsh treatment for offenders. If “being tough”
were all there was to criminal punishment, they would have been
successful. But it isn’t that simple.
Most Canadians believe what the law has said for years: “A sentence
must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of
responsibility of the offender.” But ensuring that this happens is not
easy. In 2010, the Alberta Court of Appeal noted that judges sentencing
identical cases would often hand down different sentences. When prison
sentences are imposed, the portion of the time that is actually served
in prison is not completely predictable. Many people think offenders
will routinely be released on parole, although that isn’t the case.
Sentencing
and release from prison, two parts of our punishment system, deserve
thoughtful attention. Fixing the problems that exist in each will not be
easy. But the Conservatives have systematically avoided addressing the
difficult and real problems facing the criminal justice system.
Read on...
Tony Doob, one of the authors of this piece, is a Professor Emeritus at the Centre. Tom
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Showing posts with label conservatives' crime bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conservatives' crime bill. Show all posts
UN rights group says federal justice reforms ‘excessively punitive’ on youth
The federal government’s tough-on-crime agenda is “excessively
punitive” for youth and is a step backwards for Canada’s child rights
record, says a United Nations group.
The UN committee on the rights of the child has finished a 10-year review of how Canada treats its children and how well governments are implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In particular, the committee says Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act complied with international standards until changes were introduced earlier this year.
The Harper government’s Bill C-10 – an omnibus crime bill that includes stiffer penalties for youth and makes it easier to try them as adults – no longer conforms to the child rights convention or other international standards.
Bill C-10 “is excessively punitive for children and not sufficiently restorative in nature,” the committee wrote in a report published over the weekend.
Read on...
The UN committee on the rights of the child has finished a 10-year review of how Canada treats its children and how well governments are implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In particular, the committee says Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act complied with international standards until changes were introduced earlier this year.
The Harper government’s Bill C-10 – an omnibus crime bill that includes stiffer penalties for youth and makes it easier to try them as adults – no longer conforms to the child rights convention or other international standards.
Bill C-10 “is excessively punitive for children and not sufficiently restorative in nature,” the committee wrote in a report published over the weekend.
Read on...
Quebec refuses to implement Harper’s crime bill
The debate isn't over yet for the Conservative government's criminal justice legislation – at least not in Quebec.
The province announced Tuesday that it would do everything in its power to limit the clout of the legislation that passed a day earlier.
Because the provinces are responsible for applying the laws passed in Ottawa, Quebec says it will work to soften Bill C-10 where possible.
The provincial minister said he will issue a directive to various players in the justice system to avoid applying the strictest provisions of the crime bill – particularly when it comes to youth offenders.
“It is not a plan to abolish C-10,” Jean-Marc Fournier told a news conference Tuesday inside a courtroom at Montreal's youth courthouse.
McMurtry, Greenspan & Doob: Harper’s incoherent crime policy
With all the talk about the Harper government’s omnibus crime bill, it would be easy to miss the real significance of the Prime Minister’s crime policy. The debate has focused largely on important but narrow issues such as whether people should be sentenced to a minimum of six or nine months in prison for growing six marijuana plants or whether we should stigmatize young people found guilty of minor assaults by publishing their names, and whether our laws should prohibit certain non-prison punishments for crimes such as break-and-enter.
The sum of the Harper crime policy is simultaneously less and more than the sum of its parts. The more fundamental issue that a crime policy should address is basic: How do we, as Canadians, want to respond to those who have committed crimes?A starting point might be to consider a few simple truths about crime that need to be considered in a sensible overall crime policy.
- Many young Canadians commit relatively minor offences — drug possession, breaking-and-entering, shoplifting — that could see them imprisoned.
- As people get older, they become dramatically less likely to commit offences.
- In many cases, if someone avoids reoffending for five to 15 years, their odds of committing a crime again become the same as the segment of the population that has never offended.
Tory crime bill will overburden court system: retired judges
A group of justice critics, including two retired judges, spoke out Thursday against the federal government’s omnibus crime bill, saying they worry it could result in a “litany of negative consequences” for the justice system.
The judges, retired chief Yukon judge Barry Stuart and former Ontario Superior Court judge James Chadwick, said they had yet to see evidence that bill C-10 would reduce crime or the already heavy load on the justice system.
Chadwick said he worries the mandatory minimum sentences required in the Safe Streets and Communities Act could lead to fewer pleas and more trials that last longer.
The longer those trials last, the more likely it may be that the case gets thrown out because of a delay in justice, he said.
“One size does not fit all in the sentencing structure,” Chadwick told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.
Tell the Senate: Don't rubber stamp the Crime Bill
Update & New Action: Thursday Dec 8, 2011
On Monday, Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative MPs voted for the cruel Crime Bill. That night, the NDP, Liberal, Bloc and Green MPs stood together against the bill, and many of them were wearing “Safer, not meaner” buttons in solidarity with our campaign.
Now, the struggle for Canadian justice moves to the Senate. The Senate’s job is to provide a “sober second thought.” Senators are appointed for life, and free to make their own choices. They can review the evidence, change the bill, and force another vote.
Every day, opposition grows as Canadians learn more about the Crime Bill, but Prime Minister Harper is putting enormous pressure on Senators to rubber-stamp the bill quickly so it can pass before Christmas. There is only one thing that can balance the scales: a massive public outcry from Canadians like you, right now.
One of our PhD students suggested this post. Tom
The New Canada: Fomenting Fear at Home and Abroad
Why base policy on facts and evidence when you can exploit fear instead? It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that fear is a much more powerful motivator than boring old rational argument. Political scientists have long studied the use of fear-based appeals as techniques that “entrepreneurial” politicians may use to mobilize support. The Harper government seems to understand this intuitively, based on the comments of senior ministers this week, both at home and abroad.
Imagine a split screen image. On the one side is Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, testifying Wednesday before a Senate committee on the government’s omnibus crime bill.
During the 2011 election campaign, the Conservatives promised to make Canada a place in which “law abiding” folks “don’t have to worry when they go to bed at night; where they don’t have to look over their shoulders as they walk down the street.” However, the tough-on-crime agenda ran into an awkward fact: Canada’s crime rate had been falling for years. According to Statistics Canada, police-reported crime continued declining in 2010 (the last year for which statistics are available) and reached its lowest level since 1973.
Conservative crime bill would cost Ontario more than $1-billion
Ontario says the omnibus federal crime bill will cost the province's taxpayers more than $1-billion in increased police and correctional service costs.
Correctional Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur says there are about 8,500 inmates in Ontario correctional facilities, which are at 95 per cent capacity.
Ms. Meilleur warns the Conservatives' crime bill could add another 1,500 inmates to the system by 2016, pushing populations to 150 per cent of capacity at some jails.
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