Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Harper Conservatives living in imaginary dystopia...


I finally have some insight into the Harper government.  Apparently, they're living in a post-apocalyptic dystopia of their own imagining.  Take this quote from Justice Minister Rob Nicholson recently:

"Why is it so difficult for the Liberals to figure out who the real victims are?" he said.
"If somebody is coming onto your property, [setting] fire to your car, breaking into your house, or attacking your family, Mr. Speaker, those are the bad guys."
Statistics Canada reports:
"The police-reported crime rate, which measures the overall volume of crime, continued its long-term downward trend in 2010, declining 5% from 2009. At the same time, the Crime Severity Index, which measures the severity of crime, fell 6%."
 Of course, there are statistics for everything, but they all pretty much agree that crime rates are low in Canada, and have been declining for decades.  If you want a warm fuzzy feeling, just compare Canada's crime rates to those in the United States.

Given that Canada has low crime rates, a federal deficit, and deficits in most provinces, why is the Harper government pushing through tough-on-(nonexistent)-crime legislation that's going to cost us billions of dollars?  We especially can't afford this, since Harper has given $13 billion per year in tax cuts to corporations.

Legislation should not be based on ideology.  It should not be based on knee-jerk reactions to rare tragic events.  It should not be based on irrational fears, nor cater to or inflame those irrational fears.  Just laws must be based on logic and facts.

Unless, of course, you believe you're living in a Mad Max post-apocalyptic future.