Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Jeff Jedras' National Post article "Liberals need to call Harper's bluff on crime" hits the nail on the head. I love Jeff's blog and have been reading it for quite some time, you should check it out too.

We are fortunate to see what has happened in the United States when a government is "Stupid on Crime" because they don't want to be labeled "Soft on Crime".




The Americans are looking for ways to fix their broken system, so why is Stephen Harper and the Conservatives hellbent on traveling down this same doomed path? And why are the Liberals content to let them do it?

"Stupid is as stupid does"

~ A person's intelligence may be judged
by the wisdom (or lack thereof) of his or her
actions, opinions or decisions.

Along with Jeff, Marc Holland gets it right too:

Tories take wrong road on crime

"The Harper government claims to be "tough on crime," but their discredited U.S.-style policies on crime and punishment are making Canadians less safe.

Their ineffective and costly plan, entitled A Roadmap to Public Safety, should more accurately be entitled A Roadmap to Public Disaster.

Modelled after failed American policies even diehard Republicans now admit are an abject failure, it will result in more prisons and longer sentences, while doing nothing to reduce recidivism. When over 90% of the prison population will be released, the Harper government's failure to seriously invest in vital programming needed for rehabilitation and reintegration, including substance abuse treatment and mental illness care, is nothing short of reckless."

Please also take the time and listen to Angela Davis' speech about the Prison Industrial Complex, and check out a prior post I wrote featuring a speech from Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance at the NAACP Conference.


"The U.S. has more people in jail than any other country. The General Accounting Office says the number of inmates has tripled since 1980. In this program, recorded in Colorado Springs, Angela Davis discusses how race, class and gender issues intersect with the drug war and the fast-growing prison industry."

I'm not a Member of Parliament, just a Mom from the "Suburban Inner City". If I can figure out the madness and failure in our current and upcoming drug laws, why can't our politicians? During debate in the House of Commons regarding Bill C-15, every time the Conservatives were asked to show their research that Mandatory Minimum Sentencing worked, they did not produce one shred of evidence.

"We're absolutely convinced, from our consultation with Canadians, that this is exactly what Canadians want us to do. ... We have the evidence that Canadians have told us that," Mr. Nicholson responded.

Mr. Harper kept stating "Canadians told me this is what they want." Well I am Canadian Mr. Harper, and I said no such thing. You have no right to speak for me and I am offended that you would make that assumption.

In fact, a 2007 Angus Reid poll concluded:

Canadians See Drug Offenses as Illness, Not Crime
February 01, 2007

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Canada believe prevention and treatment should be the main focus when dealing with drug users, according to a poll by Innovative Research Group released by CanWest News Service. 65 per cent of respondents think the consumption of illegal drugs is an illness.

I would also like to add that just because someone uses cannabis does not mean they are "an addict". We don't call everyone who drinks beer, wine or liquor Alcoholics because they unwind with a few drinks with friends on a Friday night. This study even highlights the popular trend of Canadian Suburbanites using cannabis as a safer alternative to alcohol.

Over 600,000 Canadians now have criminal records because they chose to use Cannabis. For the most part, these are otherwise law abiding, caring, socially productive individuals who have made a personal choice to use a naturally grown non-toxic plant which there has never been one recorded death. The crime is largely related to the Prohibition of the plant as the black market makes it a valuable commodity.

As mentioned above, I believe we need to be smart about crime. My kids are growing up here in our beautiful country and it is my duty to them to ask of my government to implement logical and realistic policies concerning crime. Someone sparking up a joint in their own home doesn't threaten my boys, but pedophiles do. Get your priorities straight, Steve - your ideological "throw 'em all in jail" stance isn't fooling me or the educated middle class.

Update- Great Article from Greg Weston: "CSI: Parliament Hill" Further proof that the Conservatives love to use propagandist scare tactics to gain votes based on fear, not facts.

Update #2 - Of course! The Conservatives will need more criminals to justify:

"the government plans to increase the size, and budget for federal penitentiaries in order to accommodate the influx of prisoners resulting from the new crime bills. The annual budget for prisons has grown from $88.5-million in 2006-07 to $195.1-million this year. And is projected to reach $211.6-million in 2010-11.

Pay up, Canadian Taxpayers!!!

Update #3 - More wisdom, this time from Kate Heartfield in The Ottawa Citizen "Masters of the Message" and great debate regarding Bill C-25 by Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer.

UPDATE #4, May 2010 - The Conservative Government has reintroduced Bill C-15 - Bill S-10 ~ New Name For Bad Law regardless of the fact that America has proven that the Billions Spent Had Meager Effect In 40-Year War On Drugs.

UPDATE #5, September 22nd, 2011 - A new session of Parliament is now underway and The Conservatives have introduced C-10, combining 9 previous unpassed bills into one huge "Omnibus" Bill. The scariest red flag here is that it is legislation that lumps different crimes together - College kids growing six cannabis plants have no business belonging in the same Bill as paedophiles, that's just ridiculous! Crime is complex - you can't just act "Tough on Crime!" you need to be smart about crime and weigh each case individually on evidence and severity and use judicial discretion. Of course people want child predators behind bars, but imprisoning non-violent cannabis consumers in with the likes of Paul Bernardo is dangerous, reckless and an an infringement of Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

This time 'round, it looks like the Liberals are going to be brave and join together along with the NDP, Green & Bloc to stand up against this terrible piece of ideological legislation

Please read: Conservatives' new crime bill borrows from failed U.S. model

and

"Tough on crime is a good political slogan. Smart on crime is better public policy."

Read more: New crime bill fails most tests - http://www.timescolonist.com/news/crime+bill+fails+most+tests/5441197/story.html#ixzz1YjMXIxV4

And what of the victims the Conservatives claim to defend during their flurry of press conferences announcing their new Act?

"In the 2010 budget the government slashed Grants for the Victims of Crime Initiative by 43% and the Contributions to the Victims of Crime Initiative by 34%. This money would have gone directly to community groups that help victims recover from trauma. Furthermore, the government’s Fall 2010 advertising report showed that $6 million was set aside to produce an advertising campaign directed at victims of crime, while funding for the Victims of Crime Initiative last year amounted to just under $4 million. The ad campaign is shockingly hypocritical, since the Conservatives have spent more money on the ads than they have on actual initiatives to help victims of crime." - Former MP Marlene Jennings, Official Opposition Critic for Justice and the Attorney General

Those Who Forget History Are Doomed to Repeat It

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived,
but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
~ Maya Angelou

On what may be the eve before the passing of Bill C-15, I implore all party members to realize just what is lying in store for our nation if we duplicate the mistakes of our neighbours to the South.

Sen. James Webb, (D-Va.) is trying to change things, before they can possibly get any worse and has launched an ambitious new effort to reform U.S. prisons nationwide.

From Slate.com:

"Webb has no problem locking up the serious baddies. In fact, he wants to reform the justice system in part so that we can incapacitate the worst of the worst. But Webb wants us to recognize that warehousing the nation's mentally ill and drug addicts in crowded correctional facilities tends to create a mass of meaner, more violent, less employable people at the exits. And unlike Guantanamo, there are always going to be exits.

The Justice Department estimates that 16 percent of the adult inmates in American prisons—more than 350,000 of those incarcerated—suffer from mental illness; the percentage among juveniles is even higher. And 2007 Justice statistics showed that nearly 60 percent of the state prisoners serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence and four out of five drug arrests were for drug possession, not sales. Webb also reminds us that while drug use varies little by ethnic group in the United States, African-Americans—estimated at 14 percent of regular drug users—make up 56 percent of those in state prison for drug crimes. We know all of this. The question is how long we want to avoid dealing with it."


Should we not be learning from the failed policies of the Americans? Why is the Canadian government attempting to follow down this road of failure and misery?

One thing is for sure, those Members of Parliament who support the draconian bill will be publicized, and summarily voted out of office by Canadians when our country falls further down the rabbit hole.

The future consequences of Bill C-15...... welcome to The United States of Canada!