Inmate Threats Should Not be Tolerated

Earlier this year, Correctional Service of Canada, the government agency which manage and run the nation's federal prison system, announced that as of May, outdoor smoking would no longer be allowed. Indoor smoking has been prohibited as of 2006.

I support this initiative and believe in the importance of removing drugs and other harmful and addictive substances from our prisons. Illegal drugs obviously should remain illegal, but it is no less important to ensure the health and safety of our prison officials and staff.

Nonetheless, I do concede that this will no be easy nor will compliance come about quickly. On the Ottawa Citizen's website, there is a story raising some of this difficulties and issues. The part of this story which I take issue with concerns the response of inmates to the smoking ban. Apparently, when consulted, inmates were "overwhelmingly against a total ban, warning it would possibly lead to cases of 'serious confrontation and possible damage.'"

Where in the world do these inmates get they idea that they have the right to threaten Corrections Canada and prison staff?!? This is simply not acceptable. These individuals have been imprisoned because they could not comply with society's laws, and no they think they have the right to threaten harm to people and property over the right to smoke.

If you are really concerned about the right to smoke, perhaps you shouldn't have commit a crime. Non-imprisoned Canadians have the right to smoke in their private residences, which is a privilege. When you are incarcerated, you, rightfully lose that privilege only with many others.

Paul Martin Golf Course Just Another Distraction from Actually being an MP

I read on the National post's website this morning that former Prime Minister Paul Martin has obtained municipal approval for a six-hole golf course on his property in Brome Lake in Quebec.

For a man who barely shows up for work in the House of Commons, this can only serve as a further distraction. Once his course is completed, what chance is there that Martin will actually show up and vote in the House of Commons for a change?

Stop Spending Taxpayers' Money on Films they don't Support

Much fuss has been made lately over the Conservative Government's Bill C-10 which dictates that offensive films ought not to receive tax credits from the government. Many left-wing activists and celebrities have denounced this Bill as promoting censorship.

Well, I, too, am offended by this issue; however, not at the government but at these activists and filmmakers. No film, offensive or not, should be made at the taxpayers' expensive. If these films are not good enough to recoup their expenses and make a profit at the theatre, then perhaps they should not be made in the first place. These activists are making films which lose money and they expect the Canadian government and people to pay for it.

If I want to patronize any element of the artistic community, I choose to spend my money at the theatres, museums, galleries, etc. If what an individual artist creates does not appeal to me or offends me, I instead choose not to spend my money on them. Unfortunately, some of my money does go to support these works which I do not support in the form of tax credits. This is unacceptable.

Let these films sink or swim on their own merit, not on the backs of the taxpayers.

Youth Crime Laws Need to Change

This morning, there is a Canadian Press news story about Winnipeg police arresting a 10-year-old boy who has set nearly three dozen fires in the city. Furthermore, the police have no option to pursue criminal charges against this young criminal because his is less than 12 years old.

This is completely unacceptable and outrageous. The youth exemption was put in place in the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) to prevent children from being charged when they cannot differentiate between right and wrong in their actions. Any child who sets more than 30 fires using Molotov cocktails is no doe-eyed innocent deserving of protection. This is deliberate, premeditated, and habitual criminal activity and it should be treated as such.

While I do concede that some youth crime is the result of youthful exuberance or getting accidentally and temporarily caught up with the wrong group of friends, a great deal of results from repeat and violent young offenders. Despite their age, these criminals are no different than an adult committing the same crime.

I firmly believe that it is time for the government to introduce substantive amendments to the YCJA in order to properly address youth crime in Canada. We need our laws to recognize and reflect the current realities of young offenders in Canada.

What do you think on this issue? Agree? Disagree? Suggestions?

Proud of Conservative Government for Standing up for Sealers

Today, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Loyola Hearn, announced that members of the conservation group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, will be charged for unlawfully interfering with the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada. I am very proud of Hearn for taking decisive action against this group who have broken the law and endangered the lives of Canadian sealers.

For far too long, groups like the Sea Shepherd Society have broken the law to advance their agenda. A crime is a crime, no matter where it takes place. These individuals need to be held to account. No one is above the law, and if the law states that observers must stay more than 500m from the sealers, following it is not optional. The Sea Shepherd society disagrees with this and feels that they are above the law. When informed that they required permits to observe the seal hunt, their response (as posted proudly on their own website) was “permits. We don’t need no stinkin’ permits.”

The seal hunt is sustainable, economically important, and legal. The hunt does not destabilize the seal population; out of 5.5 million seals, no more than 275,000 may be hunted this year. Furthermore, many Atlantic communities depend on the infusion of income obtained during the spring seal hunt. This hunt is a hunt like any other legal hunt: regulated, licensed, and carefully monitored.

The Conservative Government is right to stand up for this legal hunt and to prosecute those who break the law by trying to harm it.

Not Just Paul Martin, All Liberal MPs should Resign for not working!

In today's Montreal Gazette, there is an article wherein Jack Layton is calling on former Prime Minister Paul Martin to resign from his seat in the House of Commons. Layton argues that he should resign because he has yet to show up to cast a single vote in this session of Parliament.

Unfortunately, Layton isn't going far enough with this request; the vast majority of the Liberal caucus hasn't voted on any significant pieces of legislation in many months now in their desperation to avoid an election. They were elected to come to Ottawa to help make decisons and suggestions on legislation of of behalf of their constituents, but apparently they are content to sit on their hands and avoid taking a definite stand on the policies of the Conservative Government.
Liberal MPs ought to be held accountable for not doing their job as expected, not just Paul Martin!