THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Dear Editor,

Two recent events highlight the morally bankrupt character of Stephen
Harper and his Conservative government.

On Monday, Dec. 5, Bill C-10, which brings in mandatory minimum
sentences for small-scale drug crimes, including for as little as a
few pot plants, passed the house and was sent to the Senate. The
second event was the Graham James molestation case.

Once the omnibus crime bill passes the senate, the penalty for growing
six marijuana plants will be longer than the penalty for molesting a
child.

Instead of making tough, yet evidence-based reforms that conform to
what we know about the psychology of criminals - for example that
psychopaths are very successful at conning parole boards and
psychiatrists, or that pedophiles cannot be rehabilitated and more
should be done to keep them out of society - this government is
putting undue and unnecessary strain on the justice system and the
provinces' budgets by pushing these completely failed policies.

Let's be real here: someone who grows six pot plants is not a drug
kingpin. When they say they are only concerned with violent drug
gangs, they are not being honest.

And when it comes to protecting society's most vulnerable, their
actions speak louder than their empty words.

In Harper's Canada, a predator might only get a short sentence for
molesting a child, but if that child then grows up to use marijuana to
treat his/her post traumatic stress disorder, he/she will get a longer
sentence.

Won't somebody think of the children!

Travis Erbacher

Langley