Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 Source: Comox Valley Echo (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Comox Valley Echo Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/comoxvalleyecho/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/785 Author: Ernie Yacub WHY SPEND MORE ON POLICING? Why would Courtenay city council automatically approve an additional $200,000 for RCMP policing when just a scant few months ago they reported to council that crime rates have been dropping dramatically, not just in the Comox Valley but across the country over the last 10 years? Shouldn't governments be cutting the police budget? I don't think busting the North Island Compassion Club and "cleaning up" Cumberland right after the RCMP report to council did much to boost the numbers. Perhaps they are anticipating the tough new laws that the Harper government is going to enact this fall, complete with mandatory minimum sentences for victimless crimes like growing cannabis marijuana, a weed that has been growing wild all over the world for millenia. Your sons and daughters will be filling those brand new prisons Harper announced before the election, for a mere $10 billion. When Stockwell Day was asked who the prisons were for, he said they were for "unreported crimes". Care to guess what he meant? I don't think creating criminals is going to provide the cover they need for the new police state since the numbers will continue to decline mainly because almost everybody has instant communication and cameras with them wherever they go. PS - There is growing evidence that cannabis marijuana cures cacer. Maybe the RCMP brass should spend their promo money on a ride for cannabis instead of a ride for cancer. Ernie Yacub Courtenay PPS - There is a more suitable location for the homeless shelter, as close to Courtenay town centre as the current site and much more pleasant being right next to a park. Build it where the new cop shop is slated to go, on the old Courtenay Junior school land that the city also owns. Better yet, make it a comprehensive development that includes retail, offices, workshops, mixed affordable car-less accommodation, and a homeless shelter. Got that? Car free. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.