Oct. 30, 2015
National Newswatch – Don Lenihan
Will Trudeau’s “Delivery Units” further centralize the PMO?
A British brain child of Michael Barber, the delivery unit recognizes the gap between the legislative and the implementation. Lenihan offers the positives and the negatives around the use of the delivery unit and adds Barber’s own advice about how to maintain control over the process used to implement the changes. The unit is seen as a way to deal with an overwhelming control by the PMO vs bureaucratic inefficiency. So far, there is only a suggestion that the delivery unit is arriving shortly. http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/10/30/will-trudeaus-delivery-units-further-centralize-the-pmo/#.VjOG4it4mDk
The Economist (US)
Breaking the cycle: No money, no support, no prospects – after years on the inside, what does freedom look like?
The link is for a 15 minute video outlining the process and the failures of the US parole system compared to Norway’s approach. The differences in approach and results are startling. http://films.economist.com/global-compass/prison-breaking-the-cycle/
iPolitics – Tasha Kheiriddin
Where Harper’s crime agenda failed — and what Trudeau should do about it
Kheiriddin, whose past is deeply steeped in Conservative politics and economics, returns to the arguments around “tough-on-crime” by bringing the focus back to punishment and deterrence, and finding redeeming wisdom in the failed Conservative crime policies. Kheiriddin concedes on the need to end mandatory minimums and wants an audit of prison costs with more money for crime prevention. Her arguments about keeping the victims’ rights perspective probably needs a closer examination of the real benefits to victims vs the sound bites value to the Conservatives. http://ipolitics.ca/2015/10/29/where-harpers-crime-agenda-failed-and-what-trudeau-should-do-about-it/
Toronto Star – Olivia Carville
Long-term lockup sought for sex trafficker
Last year Tyrone Burton, 31, was convicted of a number of prostitution and human trafficking charges. The Crown has now brought a dangerous offender application to the Court. There are 174 dangerous offenders in Ontario – 570 across the country. Burton literally held two teenage girls prisoner according to police evidence at trial. Burton will be the first convicted under human trafficking to face the dangerous offender classification. If the application is approved his sentence becomes indeterminate. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/10/30/long-term-lockup-sought-for-sex-trafficker.html
Globe and Mail – Clare O’Hara
Five things you should know about the proposed border tracking program
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is anticipating tracking Canadians on both leaving and returning to Canada on land borders for now, so as to know whether the traveller is eligible for certain health and social benefits. The incentive, still in the planning stages, comes from a 2011 border security agreement with the US to track both entries and departures. The tracking could impact entry, taxes, health care, child tax benefits, old age security. More to come… http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/retirement/retire-travel/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-proposed-border-program/article27023460/
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, Amnesty International, Centre for International Policy Studies, University of Ottawa, and Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa
Arar + 10
A jointly sponsored conference brings focus to the current state of affairs within national security and human rights, then and now, in the light of the 10th anniversary of the Arar affair and the complicity of the RCMP in the affair. The link is to a 40 page downloadable pdf; there is an executive summary on pages 4 – 7 of the pdf. The pdf also includes six recommendations around security and human rights. http://iclmg.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2015/10/Arar-10-EN.pdf