DO THE CRIME, DO THE TIME

It is now a year since the horrible slaying of the four RCMP in
Mayorthorpe. The father of one of those slain, Don Schiemann, has
rightfully pointed out that the present minimums for gun crimes is a
joke, emphasizing that we need to send a strong, strong, message to
the criminals.

Yet there are many in high positions who seem to disagree. "Criminals
tend not to be forward-thinking enough to be deterred by harsher
sentences," says Willie de Wit, a Calgary criminal lawyer and past
president of Alberta's criminal justice branch of the Canadian Bar Association.

It is signlificant that recently Judge M. Rothstein spoke out as
contender for the top court, to say he wants law-making left to MPs,
asserting that judges should apply the law, rather than make it.

The new Conservative Justice Minister Vic Toewes has pointed out that
at times the interpretation of the law has sometimes led to house
arrests for those committing serious crimes.

He says from now on that will no longer be an option as he believes
in mandatory minimum sentences for gun and drug offences - serious
time for serious crime.

Are tougher sentences a deterrent? The latest Statistics Canada
report of Dec.15/05 reports: "The incarceration rate for Canada for
last year is at the lowest ebb it has ever been." This report also
indicates that our crime rate for the same year is very near the
highest it has ever been since records were kept in 1962.

How short-sighted are those who argue that more jails and more
incarceration rates would be too costly . True, the Correctional
Services of Canada says housing a prisoner costs on average $85,000 per year.

Yet indications are that a strong deterrence to criminals would
indicate less incarceration would be needed, resulting in not only
monetary savings, but saving in human lives as well.

Audrey Jensen

Red Deer