NATIONWIDE CRIME BILL PROTEST HITS OSHAWA

Across Canada, protestors recently met to urge lawmakers not to "mess
up like Texas." They were supposed to be sporting cowboy hats, but in
Oshawa all they wore were expressions of dismay at the progress of a
crime bill they feel the government has no grounds for.

The protestors, though relatively few, were vociferous in denouncing
the federal government's omnibus crime bill currently sitting in the
House of Commons. C-10, as the bill is known, contains amendments to
several sections of the Criminal Code. Minimum sentences for drug
violations and more prisons were just two facets of the bill the
protestors had come to decry.

It was a protest that was simultaneously occurring across Canada at
the offices of other MPs. According to leadnow.ca, where the rally
originated, 170 protests were planned to take place on November 24.

Oshawa's rally was led by Marko Ivancicevic. He cited the Canadian Bar
Association, which is comprised of more than 100,000 judges and
lawyers, who are opposed to the bill as a good example of its senselessness.

The combining of amendments under C-10 also speeds up the democratic
process, says Ivancicevic. C-10 contains amendments to the Justice for
Victims of Terrorism Act, the State Immunity Act, the Criminal Code,
the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Corrections and
Conditional Release Act, the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act among other legislation.

"What they've essentially done is that they've taken all of these
bills put it into one and tried to rush it through," he claims. "That
already tells you that there will not be ample opportunity...for
opposition or...for them to fine-tooth the whole bill and make sure it
is going to be applicable to our society and what our main concerns
and issues are."

Ivancicevic says the Conservative Party was voted into power due to
their economic platform, not criminal. The introduction of this "tough
on crime" legislature doesn't mesh with the current climate of crime
in Canada, he adds.

"Unfortunately this government doesn't care about what the citizens
want or what the citizens need," says Ivancicevic. "The focus of this
rally is on C-10...and what's missed in this is they want to deal with
crime but they don't want to deal with any of the root causes of
crime. We're looking at a time when crime is at its absolute lowest
but there's some type of urgency within the Conservative Party that
says the opposite."

Others in attendance had qualms about amendments to the criminal codes
that include minimum sentencing for the trafficking and production of marijuana

"We're trying to educate people," says Jesse Cullen, a member of the
local Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) Chapter. "We
know people don't fall for the tough on crime mantra. No criminologist
would support this."

Cullen points to the clustering of criminals in prisons as just a way
for the incarcerated to "network" and fine-tune their illegal methods.

"If he's so tough on crime, why is (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper
giving them a network?" he asks.

Oshawa MP Colin Carrie says the protestors and opposition to the bill
are based on a poor factual foundation.

"There's been so much deliberate misinformation on that (C-10)," he says.

There have been more than 139 hours of discussion and 95 hours of
debate in the House of Commons over the bill, he says, including nine
committee meetings since Parliament reconvened.

"It's been one of the longest debated measures out there. It's been
thoroughly debated in Parliament," he adds.

The guts of the bill aren't aimed at the casual drug user or the
rookie criminal, explains MP Carrie, but at violent and repeat
offenders who need to be deterred.

"Some of these people have proven they cannot be rehabilitated," he
claims. "These aren't people who shoplift. We're going after violent
gangsters who profit from hard drugs."

The contention that crime is dying down is more misinformation, says
MP Carrie. He cites increases in child pornography (36 per cent),
firearm (11 per cent), criminal harassment (five per cent), aggravated
sexual assault (56 per cent) and drug offences (10 per cent) as proof.
These statistics are from Statistics Canada, in its police-report
crime report, he says, and are all offences C-10 addresses.

Carrie accuses the NDP and Liberal Parties, who he calls "soft on
crime," of manipulating the statistics.

"This is a bill we ran on," he states. "At the end of the day the goal
is deterrence and punishment."