Harper Pledges To Get Tough On Crime
Wants to stop house arrest for serious crimes
The Prime Minister is again pledging to get tougher on dangerous criminals.
Steven Harper says he wants to end the practise of giving House Arrest to those who commit violent and other crimes such as drunk driving causing death, home invasion, arson and kidnapping.
Speaking in Saskatoon, Harper used a local example of why conditional sentences don't work.
"In Saskatchewan, nearly 40% of criminals sentenced to house arrest were sent back to jail for breaching their conditions." Harper said.
Harper says the current situation is unacceptable to Canadians and is unacceptable to his government.
To illustrate the point, the Prime Minister toured Catherine and Tyson Weber's house in South-East Saskatoon. Their home had been broken into three times over the course of 5 months back in 2003 and 2004.
Comments
Change one word a good start
The most effective way to invoke significant change to both youth and adult criminal activity can be done by changing one single word. Change the word "concurrent" to "consecuitive". Why Canada gives a discount for bulk crime is beyond me. Once you break into one house, the next are all freebies because even if you get charged with ten counts the sentences are all served concurently. No try breaking into 10 houses if the sentences were not served concurrently, rather consecuitvley and you would see a different attitude from the crime doers. I also like the three strike rule. As a juvilile on your third offence you are automatically tried as an adult with adult penalties. As an adult, third offence and you automatically serve the maximum sentence. And I mean serve it, not get out way early cause you smile and say good morning to all the guards.
People in this country have grown tired of the rampant, mostly unpunished, criminal activity in this country. And live in Saskatoon or Regina and you get more fedder upper quicker.
I challenge all parties to put forth a platform that really punishes criminals, not just give them a kick in the pants, sent home, just to reoffend.
To: Change one word a good start
You are right on the money!!!!
Increasing numbers of jails is not the solution
The solution to youth crime and crime in general does not lie in increasing the number of prisons in Canada. Studies have shown that harsher punishment does not help to reduce crime in the least. Rather, injecting money into the communities, youth centers, and various rehabilitation centers is much more effective. We need to stop crime at its roots, which means improving these conditions that ultimately lead to crime. On top of this, the amount of taxation needed in order to fund these new detention facilities would be quite hefty. On average, the cost of incarceration for one male prisoner for one year is approximately $95,000.00. If you start exponentially incarcerating non-violent offenders in Canada, imagine the increases in federal and provincial taxes. You may want to think about Harper's plans for the Criminal Justice System before giving him your vote. I sure have.
Increasing number of jails IS part of the solution.
The provincial jails in this province are overcrowded... and sending them out early to relieve pressure is NOT proper solution.