ORGANIZED CRIME

How big a problem?

The appearance of eight bodies in a field near Shedden, we are told,
left the 300 or so residents of the area "shocked," "stunned," and
"reeling." At least that is the reaction the several hundred
journalists in the area seem to be expecting from a place that is
inevitably described as a "sleepy rural crossroads."

If we know anything about rural residents, it seems more likely that
the good folk of Shedden are frustrated that bikers have chosen their
area as a handy place to dump bodies, and tired of being interviewed
about it.

They know that the murder of eight bikers by their dirtball comrades
is not indicative of growing rural crime, any more than the annual
discovery of pot plantations in the cornfields is a sign of a rural
drug problem. But it is a reminder that organized crime is not just
an urban issue.

We in Muskoka know that too. We don't get many pot plantations
springing up in our farm fields, mainly because the climate isn't
right. But we've certainly seen grow houses, it's not inconceivable
that some rural farmhouse in Muskoka houses a crystal meth lab, and
the day will come when someone on a back road will stumble across an
abandoned tow truck containing a bullet-riddled body.

Regardless of where we live, most Canadians face three main risks
associated with organized crime. The first is that we will get caught
in the crossfire, or show up at the wrong time arriving in the field
just as the bodies are being dumped, for example. The chances of that
are slim, regardless of whether you live in Shedden or Etobicoke.

A greater problem is the societal pain that organized crime
facilitates. Drug addiction, prostitution, pornography ooze grief and
misery; but they also yield tremendous profits, which is why they
aren't going to go away. The Hell's Angels and the Bandidos didn't
invent these industries, but they certainly help them grow.

Perhaps the risk with the most widespread impact, though, is that
special interests will use spectacular crimes like the one in Shedden
for political gain. It is too easy to respond to such a crime with a
pledge to "restore law and order" by pouring more resources into
policing, or surveillance training, or special equipment, or expanded
prisons.

Crime statistics are slippery things. The rate of violent crime in
Canada remains lower than it was a decade ago; Ontario and Quebec,
where bike gangs are most active, have the lowest crime rates in the
country. If we are going to put even more resources into a law-and-
order drive, we need to have a clear idea of what we're trying to
achieve. Eight dead bikers in Shedden is not the proof of a growing
wave of organized crime.