82 year old Betty Krawczyk is a repeat offender … Jack Froese and Randall Hopley went free

On Sunday, CTV News ran a story, regarding a government study, which indicated tougher sentences don't deter crime.  While initially about drunk drivers, the story did use information gathered, to comment about deterrence with stronger jail terms.



Study says tougher sentences don't deter crime.



I am going the ask the question however, should the purpose of jail terms ONLY be to deter crime --- or perhaps should we be considering the safety of others --- in other words the protection of Canadians??  Before we consider that however, let's look at a few facts in the story.

• first they said that 57% re-offended within five years

• the severity of the first sentence seemed to have no impact on the behaviour of the offender

• they said there appeared to be no evidence showing the consequences of breaking the law had any affect at all on it re-occurring.

"Reconviction rates for all individuals were similar regardless of the sentence received for the initial impaired driving conviction."

In recent weeks many have said that if the affects of increased consequences have no result, then why bother?  Perhaps a better question would be, if the consequences have no results, why are we turning career criminals loose to re-offend again?

Kevin Falcon, Christy Clark, and BC Liberals at odds with reality on HST

Taxpayers really the ones to cover
the cost of HST rebate cheques

Those who are paying the HST, should be asking who does it really impact?  In my reading, there seems to be some confusion between business, the BC government, and the Minister of Finance. 

On page #23 of a report prepared for the Business Council of BC, (CONSUMER IMPACTS OF BC’S HARMONIZED SALES TAX) it states, “In short, while BC’s HST does entail burdens for households except at lower incomes, this study has found those burdens to be far smaller than commonly believed.”

Of interest to taxpayers in BC however is a media release dated April 5^th, from the Ministry of Finance (011FIN0029-000341), which has the following direct quote from Finance Minister Kevin Falcon: