Pubdate: Wed, 30 Nov 2011
Source: Oshawa Express, The (CN ON)
Contact:  2011 Dowellman Publishing Corp
Website: http://www.oshawaexpress.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5299
Author: Geoff Zochodne

NATIONWIDE CRIME BILL PROTEST HITS OSHAWA

Across Canada, protestors recently met to urge lawmakers not to "mess 
up like Texas." They were supposed to be sporting cowboy hats, but in 
Oshawa all they wore were expressions of dismay at the progress of a 
crime bill they feel the government has no grounds for.

The protestors, though relatively few, were vociferous in denouncing 
the federal government's omnibus crime bill currently sitting in the 
House of Commons. C-10, as the bill is known, contains amendments to 
several sections of the Criminal Code. Minimum sentences for drug 
violations and more prisons were just two facets of the bill the 
protestors had come to decry.

It was a protest that was simultaneously occurring across Canada at 
the offices of other MPs. According to leadnow.ca, where the rally 
originated, 170 protests were planned to take place on November 24.

Oshawa's rally was led by Marko Ivancicevic. He cited the Canadian Bar 
Association, which is comprised of more than 100,000 judges and 
lawyers, who are opposed to the bill as a good example of its senselessness.

The combining of amendments under C-10 also speeds up the democratic 
process, says Ivancicevic. C-10 contains amendments to the Justice for 
Victims of Terrorism Act, the State Immunity Act, the Criminal Code, 
the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Corrections and 
Conditional Release Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the 
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act among other legislation.

"What they've essentially done is that they've taken all of these 
bills put it into one and tried to rush it through," he claims. "That 
already tells you that there will not be ample opportunity...for 
opposition or...for them to fine-tooth the whole bill and make sure it 
is going to be applicable to our society and what our main concerns 
and issues are."

Ivancicevic says the Conservative Party was voted into power due to 
their economic platform, not criminal. The introduction of this "tough 
on crime" legislature doesn't mesh with the current climate of crime 
in Canada, he adds.

"Unfortunately this government doesn't care about what the citizens 
want or what the citizens need," says Ivancicevic. "The focus of this 
rally is on C-10...and what's missed in this is they want to deal with 
crime but they don't want to deal with any of the root causes of 
crime. We're looking at a time when crime is at its absolute lowest 
but there's some type of urgency within the Conservative Party that 
says the opposite."

Others in attendance had qualms about amendments to the criminal codes 
that include minimum sentencing for the trafficking and production of marijuana

"We're trying to educate people," says Jesse Cullen, a member of the 
local Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) Chapter. "We 
know people don't fall for the tough on crime mantra. No criminologist 
would support this."

Cullen points to the clustering of criminals in prisons as just a way 
for the incarcerated to "network" and fine-tune their illegal methods.

"If he's so tough on crime, why is (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper 
giving them a network?" he asks.

Oshawa MP Colin Carrie says the protestors and opposition to the bill 
are based on a poor factual foundation.

"There's been so much deliberate misinformation on that (C-10)," he says.

There have been more than 139 hours of discussion and 95 hours of 
debate in the House of Commons over the bill, he says, including nine 
committee meetings since Parliament reconvened.

"It's been one of the longest debated measures out there. It's been 
thoroughly debated in Parliament," he adds.

The guts of the bill aren't aimed at the casual drug user or the 
rookie criminal, explains MP Carrie, but at violent and repeat 
offenders who need to be deterred.

"Some of these people have proven they cannot be rehabilitated," he 
claims. "These aren't people who shoplift. We're going after violent 
gangsters who profit from hard drugs." 

The contention that crime is dying down is more misinformation, says 
MP Carrie. He cites increases in child pornography (36 per cent), 
firearm (11 per cent), criminal harassment (five per cent), aggravated 
sexual assault (56 per cent) and drug offences (10 per cent) as proof. 
These statistics are from Statistics Canada, in its police-report 
crime report, he says, and are all offences C-10 addresses.

Carrie accuses the NDP and Liberal Parties, who he calls "soft on 
crime," of manipulating the statistics.

"This is a bill we ran on," he states. "At the end of the day the goal 
is deterrence and punishment."
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.