WHAT ARE WE DOING TO RESTORE OUR BROKEN SOCIETY?

British PM moves to tackle major problems after
London riots, while Canadian politicians generate
more rhetoric than reasoned responses to crime

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged
to restore his broken society after riots across
the U. K., but it raises the question: What are we doing here?

Forget about the philosophical debates over the
causes of riots and the differences between them
=AD Britain, Canada and other Western nations face a common malaise.

We all have major problems with chronic
addiction, unemployment, gang violence and a
growing chip-on-the-shoulder problem with our youth.

Cameron has been trying to address it. Prime
Minister Stephen Harper still hasn't risen to the occasion.

And aside from Premier Christy Clark's initial
=93I'm-the-newsheriff-in-town-and-I=92ll-get-those-rustlers=94
response, we've seen nothing from the Liberals
since the Stanley Cup riot. No hangings, no
whippings, not even severe chastisements. Nothing.

Federally, the discussion about what to do about
law and order generates even more rhetoric than reasoned responses.

Cameron not only talked tough, he quickly
followed up by enunciating a broad program that
included neighbourhood improvement projects and support for youth.

You can argue with the details about what he
wants to do, but to see a politician attempt to
lead where others are waiting for poll results is heartening.

Longer prison terms alongside community service
such as picking up litter in local parks and
mandated participation in neighbourhood soccer
games =AD these are novel ideas that should be applauded.

Cameron is talking about a national citizen
service, advocating for civic engagement and a
reform of health and safety laws =AD a non-partisan
message whose time seems to have come.

What happened on our streets was absolutely
appalling behaviour and to send a very clear
message that it's wrong and won=92t be tolerated is
what the criminal justice system should be doing,=94 he said.

But he added that government, too, must live up
to its role. There are two sides to the social contract.

What was once ridiculed as his hug-a-hoodie
policy sounds more these days like a
compassionate conservatism that marries the
public's desire for tougher policing and stiffer
sentencing with a quest to relieve the bleak
conditions facing many young people.

Cameron hired former New York and L. A. police
chief Bill Bratton to consult on how to deal with gangs.

It is easy to quip, what's Birmingham got to do
with East L. A.? And it's easy to be skeptical of
such an apparently grandstanding move.

Still, it's the kind of political risk-taking
that's required, as opposed to what Ottawa or Victoria have been offering.

Until now, Harper has held out nothing more than
warmed over failed U. S. proposals of long jail
time that cost taxpayers too much and do too
little to improve safety. Can anyone honestly
justify a six month minimum prison sentence for
someone growing as few as six marijuana plants or
a two-year minimum for someone selling pot to anyone under 18 near schools?

No matter what we may think about Cameron, he
appears willing to break new ground and move away
from the discredited and failed war-on-drugs and war-on-poverty policies.

We are long overdue in this country for a similar
discussion about how to fix our criminal legal system.

It is especially timely given this week's
retirements of Supreme Court of Canada Justice
Louise Charron, at the too-young age of 60, and Justice Ian Binnie, 72.

In particular, the departure of Justice Charron,
a former law professor and bilingual ex-Crown
attorney, deprives the court of its single most
experienced and knowledgeable voice on criminal law.

The country is at a watershed moment.

It's obvious we have serious issues with gangs,
organized crime and, on occasion, hooliganism. But how do we respond?