Mar 6, 2015

Globe and Mail – Debra Parkes and Isabel Grant

A life sentence without parole will not make Canadians safer

Parkes is a professor of law at Allard (UBC) and Grant at the University of Manitoba.  Both are of the opinion that the life without parole (LWOP) proposal of the Harper government is “a costly, cynical, and likely unconstitutional plan to fix a non-existent problem for political gain… Some may ask why we should care about this small group of violent offenders who will end up spending many decades in a penitentiary. We should care because this bill misinforms Canadians, diverting resources and attention from real public safety threats.”  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-life-sentence-without-parole-will-not-make-canadians-safer/article23308420/   Related article: Sunday Morning with Michael Enright interviewing Catherine Latimer, Executive Director of John Howard Canada  “Tough on crime” policy poses dangers for society   (18 minute audio)   http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/The+Sunday+Edition/ID/2618403092/   Related article: Huffington Post (Canada)  Emma Prestwich    Meanwhile In Canada.. Group Uses Moose In Ad To Oppose Harper’s Anti-Terror Bill    http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/03/03/anti-terror-ad-leadnow_n_6792244.html   Related article: Huffington Post – Ryan Maloney   Tories Criticized Over ‘Fear-Mongering’ Facebook Post On Bill C-51, West Edmonton Mall Threat     http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/03/04/bill-c-51-west-edmonton-mall_n_6801058.html?ir=Canada+Politics    Related article: CTV News –  Conservatives’ Facebook post promoting Bill C-51 may be violation of same law: expert   http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/conservatives-facebook-post-promoting-bill-c-51-may-be-violation-of-same-law-expert-1.2266747

 CBC News – Laura Peyton

Parole elimination for some murderers good for Conservative brand   

Peyton thinks that the apparent intent to introduce this legislation before the election is simply seeking to feed the party base but that the legislation will not happen before the election.  She thinks whether the bill is passed does not really matter to its purposes.  Says Peyton:   “It will also be difficult to get the legislation through Parliament in the 11 weeks remaining in the parliamentary calendar. While the government will introduce the bill next week, that doesn’t leave much time for it to be debated in the House and Senate, plus examined by two parliamentary committees. Parliament is now focused on C-51, the government’s new anti-terrorism bill, and will have to deal with the federal budget in April.”  http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/parole-elimination-for-some-murderers-good-for-conservative-brand-1.2982965   Related article: Toronto Star – Tim Harper   Conservative party nourishes terror threats to bolster political fortunes: Conservative party may have hit a new low, using Al Shabab video threatening the West Edmonton Mall as a way to build support.   http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/05/conservative-party-nourishes-terror-threats-to-bolster-political-fortunes-tim-harper.html

 Blogger Monia Mazigh – Author and Human Rights Advocate

Reflections of a Muslim Woman in a post 9/11 World 

Mazigh came to Canada in 1991 in the middle of the first Gulf War when a woman wearing a hijab on the streets of Montreal went almost unnoticed and often became a curiosity piece.  “I am just a Muslim. I am a human being with some strength but also with a lot of weakness. So why do I have to be always the defender of Islam?”  https://moniamazigh.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/reflections-of-a-muslim-woman-in-a-post-911-world/

 Today’s Catholic News (US) – Madeleine Richey

Restorative Justice: Face-to-face with the effects of crime 

Misty Wallace was 17 years old in October of 1992 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  She used a pay phone to call her parents and when she turn around an 18 year old shot her in the face and changed her life forever.  Now friends both offered an evening on the experience as shaped by the principles of restorative justice.   Keith, the offender, a product of this system, “believes that restorative justice is more difficult than the average punishment dealt by the criminal justice system.”    http://www.todayscatholicnews.org/2015/03/restorative-justice/

 iPolitics.com – Steve Sullivan

Public safety vs. the politics of payback

Canada’s first federal ombudsman for Victims Rights, Sullivan is upset that the feds have allowed the federal funding for CoSA (Circles of Support and Accountability) program to end.  Says Sullivan:  “I support it (CoSA) because it stops men who have hurt a child in the past from hurting a child in the future. I support it because it works — regardless of how I feel about sex offenders. If one of them is released into my community, I want to know that COSA is there to help him.”   http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/04/in-harpers-world-payback-trumps-public-safety/   Related article: Globe and Mail – Daniel Leblanc  Anti-terror bill powers ‘excessive,’ Canada’s Privacy Commissioner says   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/anti-terror-bill-powers-excessive-canadas-privacy-commissioner-says/article23325129/   Related article: iPolitics.com – Michael Harris  More red meat for the hang-‘em-high crowd    http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/03/05/harpers-sentencing-bill-more-red-meat-for-the-hang-em-high-crowd/