Are Canadians too complacent about the risk of a terrorist strike at home?
Is the $10-billion spent each year by Western nations for intelligence gathering sufficient to fight the War on Terror? When can we begin to breathe easy again? Tune in this Sunday and join special guests James Woolsey, Director of the CIA under US President Bill Clinton; Dale Watson, the former FBI Executive Assistant Director for Counter-Terrorism; and Stewart Bell, investigative reporter for the National Post and author of a new book on Canada's terrorist connection: Cold Terror.
Global Sunday will be at 5:30 or 6:30, depending upon where you live. You may check here for program times
*** Today, capital punishment doesn't exist, for even the most vile and ruthless premeditated murders. Liberal PM Pierre Trudeau led the charge in the mid-1970s to get rid of it via a very suspect "free vote" in the Commons which won by a mere six-vote margin. And the vagrancy laws were killed by his later Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ***
*** For instance, I suggested in a recent column that those using a lethal weapon -- gun, knife, club, iron bar, etc. -- in committing a crime should be given a mandatory 10-year sentence. And added to the sentenced [sic] for the crime itself. ***
I think Bob MacDonald has this just about right -- although I might add a few years to that, even. I have another two suggestions after reading MacDonald's article.
*** Canadian MPs must have free votes in the House of Commons. ***
*** Nothing should be as impervious to change as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To tie our hands like this is ridiculous. I suspect Canadians from all provinces would like to revisit this one. The longer we live, the less impressed Canadians are with the vaunted Trudeau legacy. *** NJC
[. . . .] No, it wasn't idyllic [1950's Toronto]. There was some violent crime, but absolutely nothing like the stuff that goes on in today's Toronto.
[. . . .] And the laws of the land were much tougher. A conviction for murder carried the death penalty. Armed robbers went off to prison for 10 or more years -- and mostly with no early parole. You did the crime, you did the time.
And Toronto's streets were devoid of panhandlers, streetwalkers and drug pushers. We had such things as the vagrancy laws. The police ran you in if you were out there with no visible means of support.
Today, capital punishment doesn't exist, for even the most vile and ruthless premeditated murders. Liberal PM Pierre Trudeau led the charge in the mid-1970s to get rid of it via a very suspect "free vote" in the Commons which won by a mere six-vote margin. And the vagrancy laws were killed by his later Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Since then, we've had such sentence-slashing devices as early parole, mandatory supervision and highly lenient special legislation for so-called young offenders. And many of the judges appointed by our political leaders have been more social workers than enforcers of the criminal justice system.
This is combined with almost 40 years of a wide-open, ridiculously soft immigration system introduced by the Liberals in 1965 to attract "the immigrant vote."
So, it's little wonder that criminals, and now terrorists, find Canada such an attractive destination to set up shop.
[. . . .] But in recent months I've noticed the Canadian worm is turning.
For instance, I suggested in a recent column that those using a lethal weapon -- gun, knife, club, iron bar, etc. -- in committing a crime should be given a mandatory 10-year sentence. And added to the sentenced for the crime itself.
[. . . .] I'd like to hear from readers about some of their own experiences with and views about today's crime threats -- and what should be done. So don't hesitate to contact me at my e-mail: bob.macdonald@ tor.sunpub.com.
