Conservative Justice Plan
Today the Conservatives unveiled their plan for revamping the young offender's act. While I have no doubt it will be popular outside of Quebec, I think it is a bad idea and regardless of its appeal, needs to be opposed. This is also the case that if framed properly, the Liberals can turn this against the Tories, however it has to be done right. I am not opposed to charging young offenders as adults in the most extreme cases, but this should be an option available, not a requirement. In addition, it should only be done in the most extreme cases when a psychiatric assessment shows there is little to no chance of rehabilatating the offender such as the killers of Rena Virk in BC in 1996. However, this discretion should be left up to the judge in charge of the case. Instead the Tories are trying a failed system of lock them up approach used in the United States, which has failed on all accounts. It has not reduced crime, while the rate of incarceration has skyrocketed and it has been a huge cost to taxpayers. Instead rehabilatation in the majority of cases not only reduces the risk of the person re-offending, but also costs less than incarceration. By rehabilatating young offenders, they can become productive citizens as adults rather than hardened criminals. The most troubling part of all is to release the names of convicted young offenders. This is I oppose as once it is known someone has committed a crime, their chances of receiving any meaningful employment as an adult is considerably reduced. This increases the chances they will continue to commit crimes as an adult and even if they don't if they cannot find meaningful employment they are more likely to cost taxpayers money in terms of having to support them on social assistance. So from a taxpayer's point of view, this will cost a lot. In the case of the United States, their total prison population is larger than the population of the ten smallest states and in fact 1 in 10 Black males between 25-29 are currently incarcerated. Yet despite this, the United States has one of the highest crime rates, if not the highest in the developed world. Regardless of ideology, I believe in doing what works rather than what does not work. Now I understand why this might appeal to some and this will be where the Liberals face their main challenge in challenging this. Arguing the experts say this won't work probably won't work to well with your average citizen. That might work with the converted like myself, but that is besides the point.
Instead the Liberals need to point out that Harper's plan likely violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ask him if the courts strike down his plan if he is willing to use the notwithstanding clause. If he says yes, then ask what other areas he might be willing to use it against such as abortion, death penalty, gay marriage etc. Otherwise bring up the old hidden agenda which has worked fairly well in past elections. If he says no, then point out he will have to break his promise by either not implementing his plans or use the notwithstanding clause and tie this into his other broken promises such as not taxing income trusts and breaking the Atlantic Accords. These are simple easy ideas that can make a difference. Long detailed articles on why the policies are bad only works with those who are active in politics and most of them have made up their mind on how they plan to vote. To appeal to the undecided, the Liberals must make it easy and simple to understand, something which regretably they haven't done too well recently unlike the Tories or the NDP.
As for other issues, most of the party policies have been not too controversial, although each party seems to have had their few controversies recently. In the case of the Tories, they had to dump a candidate in Toronto Centre after his comments on his blog on Natives as well as why allowing people to carry concealed weapons could have prevented the greyhound bus murder in Winnipeg of Tim McLean this past August. While the Tories have no chance at winning Toronto Centre, which is probably why they never bothered to properly vet their candidate, this is not too helpful. The Liberals big dumb move was Dion's statement that the Carbon Tax is not a major policy plank. Even if unpopular, backing down only makes things worse. He should stick with the policy and argue it is the right thing. After all, when Trudeau introduced bilingualism, abolished the death penalty, and introduced the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and likewise when Mulroney brought in Free Trade, these were controversial policies with many detractors. But both stuck by their guns and won out in the end. Also the NDP has had a few problems with some of its BC candidates, although I wonder how much it will really hurt them since their stances on marijuana are most likely to anger the types who would never consider voting NDP in the first place.
As for the polls, the Tories are still ahead, although clearly in minority territory. In the case of the Liberals, their numbers are somewhat scattered from being only 5 points behind in the Nanos poll to in a dog fight for second place with the NDP in some other polls. This means the Liberals do still have a chance at winning if they can turn things around, but also could mean falling into a dead heat with the NDP and possibly next time around having the NDP supplant them as the centre-left alternative if things go poorly, so all the more reason to fight hard regardless of which polls one believes.
Instead the Liberals need to point out that Harper's plan likely violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ask him if the courts strike down his plan if he is willing to use the notwithstanding clause. If he says yes, then ask what other areas he might be willing to use it against such as abortion, death penalty, gay marriage etc. Otherwise bring up the old hidden agenda which has worked fairly well in past elections. If he says no, then point out he will have to break his promise by either not implementing his plans or use the notwithstanding clause and tie this into his other broken promises such as not taxing income trusts and breaking the Atlantic Accords. These are simple easy ideas that can make a difference. Long detailed articles on why the policies are bad only works with those who are active in politics and most of them have made up their mind on how they plan to vote. To appeal to the undecided, the Liberals must make it easy and simple to understand, something which regretably they haven't done too well recently unlike the Tories or the NDP.
As for other issues, most of the party policies have been not too controversial, although each party seems to have had their few controversies recently. In the case of the Tories, they had to dump a candidate in Toronto Centre after his comments on his blog on Natives as well as why allowing people to carry concealed weapons could have prevented the greyhound bus murder in Winnipeg of Tim McLean this past August. While the Tories have no chance at winning Toronto Centre, which is probably why they never bothered to properly vet their candidate, this is not too helpful. The Liberals big dumb move was Dion's statement that the Carbon Tax is not a major policy plank. Even if unpopular, backing down only makes things worse. He should stick with the policy and argue it is the right thing. After all, when Trudeau introduced bilingualism, abolished the death penalty, and introduced the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and likewise when Mulroney brought in Free Trade, these were controversial policies with many detractors. But both stuck by their guns and won out in the end. Also the NDP has had a few problems with some of its BC candidates, although I wonder how much it will really hurt them since their stances on marijuana are most likely to anger the types who would never consider voting NDP in the first place.
As for the polls, the Tories are still ahead, although clearly in minority territory. In the case of the Liberals, their numbers are somewhat scattered from being only 5 points behind in the Nanos poll to in a dog fight for second place with the NDP in some other polls. This means the Liberals do still have a chance at winning if they can turn things around, but also could mean falling into a dead heat with the NDP and possibly next time around having the NDP supplant them as the centre-left alternative if things go poorly, so all the more reason to fight hard regardless of which polls one believes.
posted by Monkey Loves to Fight at 8:18 PM
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