Crime In Canada

Submitted by Richard on Sun, 09/03/2008 - 12:24am
Crime in Canada

Every day on television and in newspapers across Canada come stories of crimes followed by calls for more policing, tougher penalties, and stronger legislation. "Get tough on crime and the perpetrators of crime "is the most common topic in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ section of newspapers in every town.

Collectively as a nation we wail against the courts for not giving long enough penalties. We berate our police forces for not being active enough. We plead with legislators to make the criminal code stronger, and every election candidates pledge to pass laws that will make enforcement more efficient and meaningful, yet, each day crime appears to be even more rampant.

As a nation we cheer and applaud budget restraints and politicians pat themselves on the back for ‘listening to the people’. Now, every police department is trying to do more with less, and the courts have been streamlined to where efficiency over-rides justice, and our jails cannot accommodate the criminals we demand to be incarcerated.

More and more we hear stories of criminals getting off scott-free because their rights have been violated. Were does it end? What are we as a nation coming to?

Several months ago I began a search for answers to these questions and my preconceived notions and knee-jerk reactions were immediately slashed. I wanted answers to the following questions:

  1. What is the cost of criminal activity in Canada?
  2. Who are the main perpetrators of crime?
  3. What is the root cause of criminal activity?
  4. How best can we as a nation prevent crimes?
  5. Where do we start on the road to becoming a more peaceful nation?

Just days before I completed compiling all the information I had collected, four RCMP Officers were murdered in Mayerthorpe Alberta. This led to another round, yet even more intense, of the same verbal tirades from press and citizens demanding our respective governments and agencies put an end to these horrific acts of violence. I share with you three newspaper clippings. First, the statement by the mother of one of the Mounties killed, second, an editorial from the Vancouver Province newspaper, and third, a press release from the BC government one week after the shootings.

Reactions

The Vancouver Province March 6, 2005
Grieving Family Calls for Action on Drugs and Violence
Statement by Colleen Myrol, mother of slain officer.

"The family of Brock Myrol are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of Brock. However, it is time that our government take a stand on evil. The man who murdered our son and brother was a person who was deeply disturbed and ill.

It is our duty as Canadians to stop and rethink how we are raising our children. It is time to teach honour of our country. Brock knew that. It is time to care for our fellow man. Brock knew that. It is time to end the violence, stop the bullying on the play yards so our children won't commit suicide. Brock knew that.		 It is time as parents, whether single or two-parent families, to raise our children with honour for our country, where a man's word is his bond. Brock knew that.

It is time to take our liberal-minded attitude to task. Prime Minister Paul Martin, we depend on you and we expect you to change the laws and give the courts real power. Give the power back to the police. Take the power from the Supreme Court and give it back to the House of Commons.

We are a good country. Brock knew that. He loved the RCMP and all it stood for.

Our country is hurting. We have lost four dedicated citizens who were willing to do something about it.		 Children who are raised with hopes and dreams and goals, not in houses filled with drugs and violence, will be better people. Brock knew that.

Canadians are wonderful, loving, caring people. Brock knew that and dedicated his life to preserving that tradition. From the Myrol family to the families of the other constables that are dealing with their extreme and eternal loss, we are so sorry. Our hearts are with you. We share and we feel your pain. God bless you all.

Respectfully, Keith; Colleen; Patricia; Kelhani; Robert; Angela, Brock's fiancée; Blake; Rachel; Lorne and a host of aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and very good friends. Thank you."
The Vancouver Province Sunday, March 6, 2005

Mountie murders should spur us to question our sick, me-first society

The sickening slaughter of four Mounties last week on an Alberta farm gives Canadians pause for thought about what kind of society they're living in.

Is it a society where the overwhelming majority respect each other and the laws that are supposed to bind them together as a community? Or it it one where selfish slimeballs can do as they please, with no shame or fear of redress?

Certainly, the heart-wrenching statement from Colleen Myrol, mother of Const. Brock Myrol, one of the RCMP officers gunned down during last Thursday's grow-op raid, should touch us all.

The grief-stricken mom says Canadians are basically a wonderful, loving, caring people. But, she suggests, we have lost our way by turning our back on the strong, patriotic values that once made us proud.

Her simple and beautifully written statement calls on our government to “take a stand on evil.” It says our duty is to rethink how we are raising our children.

It calls on Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal government to change the laws so as to give the courts and police “real power” – and also to give real power back to the House of Commons.

“It is time to take our liberal-minded attitude to task,” said the emotional declaration written on behalf of the fallen constable's family, relatives and good friends.

“We are a good country. Brock knew that. He loved the RCMP and all it stood for,” the grieving mom said. But she added: “Our country is hurting. We have lost four dedicated citizens who were willing to do something about it.”

The Myrol family, in other words, is questioning the permissive, drug-taking society we have created in this value-starved country. “It is time as parents, whether a single- or two-parent family, to raise our children with honour for country, where a man's word is his bond,” it stated.

Loyalty and honour, of course, are not words generally associated with dope dealers, especially those who operate with virtual impunity in this province.

Now, some “experts” argue the best solution to the current plague of grow-ops is to legalize, tax and regulate them. But we humbly suggest that this is a typical liberal cop-out.

A far better option would be for all law-abiding citizens to demand their governments take a much tougher stand against the drug-pushers – and against others who show no love of this country or any respect for their fellow human beings.

VICTORIA Monday, March 7, 2005

The B.C. government has introduced legislation that would allow the province to seize the assets of criminals.

Solicitor General Rich Coleman says the Civil Forfeiture Act will put the onus on people to prove their house, car or other property was bought with untainted money.

Under the bill, the government could apply to the court to seize assets gained through crime.

The assets could then be sold to fund crime prevention programs, law enforcement initiatives or to compensate victims.

The government suggests that the people behind marijuana grow-ops, credit card fraud, identity theft and telemarketing scams could be among those targeted by the new law.

©Broadcast News 2005

Revised 2005 after the murder of four RCMP Officers in Mayerthorpe Alberta.

.