Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2007
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Barbara Yaffe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

CONSERVATIVES STAND TO BENEFIT FROM OUTBREAK OF GANG MAYHEM

Vancouver's gang problem, having reached crisis proportions, could be 
the Harper government's ticket to ride in the Lower Mainland. 
Conservatives have acknowledged that they've had only mixed success 
in finding a way to British Columbians' hearts.

Conservative backroomer and long-time Stephen Harper helpmate Tom 
Flanagan expressed frustration in his latest book, Harper's Team: 
Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power.

"What works well in one region of B.C. will not necessarily work in 
another," the Calgary political scientist wrote. "We may have to get 
more, and more highly placed, strategists from B.C. to help us run a 
more effective provincial campaign."

In the 2006 vote, Conservatives won 17 of B.C.'s 36 seats -- down 
from 22 seats in the 2004 federal election.

The party has not one but two formidable adversaries in the province, 
the NDP and Liberals, and could use a galvanizing issue to attract adherents.

With three gang-related murders taking place on Vancouver's west side 
this week, including a Tuesday double murder of two men in South 
Vancouver, Conservatives -- advertising themselves as the anti-crime 
party -- stand to benefit politically from what looks like a gathering storm.

Sure enough, by Wednesday, Public Security Minister Stockwell Day was 
giving radio interviews, and Harper was speaking about attacking 
crime at a Board of Trade speech. They know that Vancouverites have had it.

Earlier in the week, a man was shot and killed outside his 
Shaughnessy home. On Monday, in broad daylight, two SUVs engaged in 
gunfire on the Lougheed Highway, in what an RCMP said was a targeted 
hit. What if those bullets had hit a passing car?

Several weeks ago six men were murdered in a Surrey highrise, among 
them two uninvolved bystanders who were in the wrong place at the 
wrong time. Chris Mohan, a 22-year-old from Surrey, and Edward 
Schellenberg, 55, from Abbotsford, wound up at the morgue.

And who can forget a September shooting at the Quattro restaurant in 
trendy Kits where masked gunmen opened fire?

More than half of B.C.'s ridings are in the Lower Mainland and 
environs, the perceived locus of the gang problem.

It appears gang violence, probably linked to the illegal drug trade, 
is out of control. And there's a sense the problem has gone beyond 
Indo-Canadian or Chinese gang members killing their own nefarious associates.

Vancouverites can't be blamed for thinking about being hit by an 
errant bullet, perhaps fired from a car or through a window. And the 
idea of becoming collateral damage in your own neighbourhood is pretty potent.

Vancouver is also preparing to host the Olympics and cannot afford 
this kind of notoriety.

More than 125 crime gangs are believed to be operating in B.C. 
Between 1996 and 2005, the average homicide rate per 100,000 British 
Columbians was 2.57 -- well above the 1.88 national average.

B.C.'s rate in fact was higher than that of all other provinces, 
except Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And Vancouver experienced a higher 
rate of homicides involving a firearm than either Montreal or Toronto.

Conservatives, despite their opposition to a national gun registry, 
have portrayed themselves as the party of law and order.

The party's website asserts: "Under the Liberals, little was done to 
address concerns about the increasing threat of gun, gang and drug 
crime in our neighbourhoods. Conservatives have taken action to get 
tough on criminals and make our streets safer."

Specifically, the Harper government has acted to:

- - Crack down on money laundering by organized crime.

- - Earmark $64 million for a "National Anti-Drug Strategy."

- - Announce the hiring of 1,000 new RCMP officers as well money to 
help municipalities hire 2,500 more police.

- - Introduce legislation to limit house arrest so that those 
committing violent crime would be forced to serve jail time; to 
require mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes, and tougher 
sentencing for violent repeat offenders; to establish a reverse-onus 
principle in bail hearings for firearm-related offences.

If any party is going to gain from the mayhem on Vancouver streets, 
it's Harper's. And, as it turns out, the PM's anti-crime posture is 
likely to help in the very ridings where Conservatives need it most 
- -- urban ones where anxiety over stray bullets is greatest.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman