When she was running to replace Gordon Campbell, as leader
of the BC Liberal Party, she
told News 1130 that the courts needed to hand down harsher sentences to
high-profile criminals.
"When we find
criminals that are out there selling drugs, we should put them in jail and we
should keep them in jail. I think this revolving door of justice is an absolute
disgrace."
Now let’s fast forward 9 months (September 2011) ... we have one story after the other coming out in the news media about Joseph William Hammer (a cocaine dealer in Prince George), who had his case thrown out by Provincial Court Judge Michael Brecknell.
And why was that?
His (Judge Brecknell) interpretation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms was that a person had the right to be tried within a reasonable time …
and that should be within 18months. A lack of resources were the reason it had taken over three and a half years to get a verdict in the case of
cocaine dealer Joseph Hammer, and because of that, Hammer was to be released.
He went on to say an "unrepentant drug dealer" should "now be able to be free of the consequences of this very serious offense... should alarm and concern the community.”
But that wasn’t the only case in the Prince George area that
got tossed! FOUR
OTHER CASES WERE DISMISSED in the 12 months that led up to Joseph Hammer’s
trial.
What was the response of Christy Clark’s government? At the time, a news story indicated that Attorney General Shirley Bond was … concerned when there is a stay of proceedings ruling - no matter what the specific reasons were for each individual case.
And the solution? Shirley Bond said that … judges will continue to be rotated into communities where they are needed to ensure court hearings proceed and noted that the province is in the process of hiring and training new sheriffs … and that … Prince George will get three new auxiliary sheriffs.
Other remedies to solve the problem were to include hiring the
equivalent of 55 full-time court administration positions. Oh
but here is something that you will also want to make note of … staff had previously been CUT by the government, and so these new people
being hired would simply return things back to the staff levels that were in
place in 2010 / 2011.
So … more people are hired and all is now well with BC’s judicial system … right?? WRONG!!!
Here’s another story … this time in the November 5th edition of the Victoria Time Colonist newspaper. Impaired cases tossed due to clogged courts.
Just in case you missed it, the headline was plural … “CaseS”… not “Case”
As in the case that took place in Prince George, the Charter was used as the reason for the dismissals . “… a shortage of provincial court judges, and a lack of court time and court resources has led to two impaired driving cases being stayed in Victoria and Nanaimo provincial courts. On Friday, defence lawyer Jeremy Carr applied to Victoria provincial court under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to have his client's impaired driving charge stayed due to an unreasonable delay of 22 months. Carr argued his client's right to a fair trial within a reasonable time had been violated. …”
This province has a shortage of courtroom staff … a shortage of sheriffs … a shortage of courtroom administration … AND a shortage of courtroom judges as well. Right now, British Columbia has 127 provincial court judges ... in 2005 we had 143. In the six years that have passed since 2005, there are now 16 fewer judges!
Three days before the latest news of charges being dropped,
and cases being dismissed, BC
Conservative Party leader John Cummins said ...“Premier Clark talks
the talk on crime – but she isn’t fooling British Columbians – she doesn’t walk
the walk. This soft-on-crime
Liberal government has cut prosecutors, cut sheriffs and wonders why our
justice system is backed up. Criminals are being let free because of
unacceptable delays …”
It seems everyone BUT Christy Clark realizes we have a problem
with a lack of court resources … and that it has been an ongoing issue in the
province.
That is why earlier this Fall
John Cummins also stated ...“The Liberals continue
to demonstrate that they feel that public safety is not worth the money ... has
made clear with their recent cuts to sheriffs and prosecutors in the province
that tackling crime is not a concern of theirs ... we certainly need to
evaluate as a province where we spend our money ... for the Liberals fat
bonuses for BC Hydro executives are more important than keeping drug dealers
off the streets.”
BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark has indicated she
approves most of the federal government’s crime bill, saying … the province will likely end up paying some
of those costs … it's worth it when fighting crime.
Well good luck with that Christy, because it obvious to one and all that you can’t even get budget in place for the staff needed in provincial court cases. That’s what your record shows!!
As I mentioned in the beginning of this piece, in December
of 2010 Christy Clark said; "When we
find criminals that are out there selling drugs, we should put them in jail and
we should keep them in jail. I think this revolving door of justice is an
absolute disgrace."
What has Christy Clark said or done since then however to
let British Columbians know she is serious about crime? She wants the judicial system in BC to
televise court cases of the Stanley Cup rioters. The chief justice of the BC Supreme Court said however that judges would decide whether such
proceedings are recorded for broadcast.
Meantime … drug pushers and drinking drivers will continue to get a free pass!
Good grief, how many more examples do we need of why this Christy Clark led BC Liberal government has to go? It’s no wonder they continue to drop in the polls … and why the common sense ideas being suggested by John Cummins and the BC Conservatives are resonating more and more with the people of this province.
Last Wednesday (November 3rd) Christy Clark said; "British Columbians like the idea of making it tougher for people who commit sex offenses against children to get out of jail. British Columbians support protecting the public better from violent young offenders, and also, generally support ending the practice of house arrest for serious crimes.”
YOU'RE RIGHT CHRISTY … those are things that most British Columbians support.
How strong is your support however? Well you said your Liberal government supports those things as well … but you have not shown by actions however that those are indeed things your government supports.
When someone first starts to get in trouble, shouldn’t they
know there will be consequences? And as
the infractions grow more serious, shouldn’t the lesson to be learned get more
serious?
If someone is going to head for a career of serious crime, then we need to have consequences that fit, and consequences that are a deterrent. We need to decide why we are incarcerating someone, because if it’s for punishment, then it needs to be more than a slap on the wrist.
And when someone does go to jail, then I believe we need to ensure they have the opportunity to learn the lessons and skills they require, so they have the least possible chance to re-offend once they return to society.
I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops; with the thoughts of one conservative on this round ball we call planet earth.
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