CRIME BILL A STEP IN RIGHT DIRECTION

Well, it's official.

The Harper government has put out its mega crime bill and it won't
work.

I know this because victims advocate groups and the consensus media
populating Parliament Hill have told me so.

Even before the bill was released to the public, there were plenty of
tears over the thought of convicts actually doing prison time.

Bob Rae, the temp heading up the Liberal Party, called the bill "truly
stupid" mere minutes after it was released and long before he could
realistically have read it.

The John Howard and Elizabeth Fry societies claimed putting criminals
in prison would simply cost too much.

Sure, and the billions borne by individual Canadians and their
insurance companies is just collateral damage to the hug-a-thug crowd.

The Globe and Mail claims the bill "goes too far."

One National Post columnist is convinced locking up criminals for
committing crimes won't work.

The Toronto Star takes the cake though.

The Star sniffs about a non-existent crime wave and says the Harper
government has its priorities messed up.

"People are having trouble finding a family doctor, daycare for the
kids, or a good nursing home," read their editorial on Wednesday.

Let me explain something to the big brains that run the Toronto
Star.

We have this thing called the Constitution. Perhaps you might think of
it as the appendix to the Charter of Rights because while people on
the left love the Charter, they seem to ignore the
Constitution.

What the Constitution does is lay out how our country works and who is
responsible for what. Guess what?

The feds are responsible for passing the type of crime legislation
they introduced Tuesday and are not responsible for what the Star says
they should be focused on -- doctors, daycare or nursing homes.

It's a nice attempt by the Star to claim the government isn't doing
its job when it clearly is.

"The Safe Streets and Communities Act that the Tories rolled out on
Tuesday is a classic of misplaced priorities, a wholesale assault on a
problem that doesn't exist.

"At a time when crime is at historic lows, Harper remains fixated on
his law-and-order agenda," says the Star.

To lefties, the answer is always light sentences, crime is never a
problem -- unless it is a hate crime -- and any attempt to crack down is
always an American-style effort.

Critics point to the Statistics Canada report issued this past summer
showing crime at a low not seen since 1973.

That's true, but it is also a headline that does not tell the whole
story.

StatsCan reported on July 21 the following information about falling
crime rates: "Four property crimes accounted for the majority of the
decline -- theft under $5,000, mischief, motor vehicle thefts and break-ins."

There were also declines in homicides and robberies, but Statistics
Canada did point out that not every crime was heading in that direction.

"However, some offences did show an increase, including sexual
assault, use/discharge of a firearm, criminal harassment, child
pornography and drug offences."

The crime bill unveiled Tuesday takes aim at specific problems, it is
not a lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key bill as critics would claim.

The Harper government is responding to the concerns of Canadians when
it comes to crime, and that's a good thing.