It is time to clean up the criminal justice labyrinth

'About supporting brothers, sisters' -- COPS COME TOGETHER IN GRIEF Thane Burnett, March 11, 2005, Toronto Sun

"It's about supporting our brothers and sisters," she said, noting, at 34 years old with 10 years on the force, every police officer has something in common.

"We are willing to die -- we all know that can happen."

It's time for Canadians to throw off their apathy and hold people responsible for twisting the criminal justice system into a pretzel where the good guys become victims and the bad guys pass through the revolving door of "justice" with their "get out of jail free" passes. We owe it to those who protect us to provide them with the necessary tools to protect us and themselves. Enough with the double talk, the false promises and the lack of resources. Major criminals are laughing themselves silly at their good fortune of being in a country whose government coddles criminals. We've had enough reviews, studies, plans, meetings, to fill Fort Knox. It's time to put the resources where they are required. Enough with the stonewalling and protecting criminals.

In the sea of proud red serge that we witnessed on March 10, 2005, this is what the government has done to them when it comes to "always getting their man"........

The Last Guardians: The Crisis in the RCMP ... and in Canada by Paul Palango, ISBN: 0771069081, Published by McClelland & Stewart

There is coruption in this country and the government has tied the hands of those entrusted to deal with it. Taking five years to do an investigation because of lack of resources is not justice when the sentence ends up being two years, if a miracle occurs and there is a conviction. The government has set up a system where there is no deterrence and where there are repeat offenders who thrive on the let's make a deal legal system.

We owe it to the four murdered constables and their colleagues to move the pendulum back to the center. There are four dead young constables, we owe it to them to clean up the mess now and stop procrastinating.


The time is ripe for real reform Robert Marshall, Winnipeg Sun, March 11, 2005 -- scroll down for excerpt.

Continental terror drill to be focus of Canada-U.S. homeland security meeting Jim Bronskill, Mar. 11, 05.

There will be more than 10,000 participants. Search: Topoff 3, Topoff 2, Michael Chertoff



Our Mounties maintain a noble tradition Peter Worthington, Mar. 11, 05, Toronto Sun

An RCMP anecdote I grew up with as a kid on the prairies, was the story of Chief Sitting Bull and his Sioux Indians, who sought refuge in Canada after annihilating George Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn in 1876.

When the time came for the Sioux to go back to Dakota, the U.S. cavalry was waiting at the border to escort Sitting Bull back to a reservation.

A lone Mountie was at the head of the long line of Indians, and the nervous cavalry officer (the fate of the 7th Cavalry ingrained on his memory) asked the Mountie: "And where is the rest of your troop?"

The Mountie shrugged: "Oh, he's back at camp, cooking breakfast."

Cops shaken to their core -- MICHELE MANDEL ON THE STRENGTH LOCAL OFFICERS SHOW IN THE FACE OF ALBERTA TRAGEDY March 11, 2005

The time is ripe for real reform Robert Marshall, Winnipeg Sun, March 11, 2005

[. . . . ] Detailed and thorough investigations will accompany the Mountie murders. [. . . . ]

But that's not enough. Not even close. A much larger investigation is in order. A macro-inquiry. One where those who have been in charge for far too long are forced to looked inward and made to answer for their failings. [. . . . ]

Anne McLellan stated: "These four officers did not die in vain." She must be held to her word. Some good must come of this. Something more than the decriminalization of marijuana and prostitution. It's time they played hardball.

Search: statistics, Youth Criminal Justice Act, "Con Game - the Truth About Canada's Prisons", travesty, DNA labs




Saying 'no' to U.S. was very Liberal Salim Mansur, Mar. 11, 05, Toronto Sun

Mansur is a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario

To be a multicultural country means to be fragmented, and to have the people pulled in different directions with no common loyalty except what can be negotiated at the lowest common denominator of unstable interests.

Hence what was once the great refusal amounting to nation-building became strident anti-Americanism to bind an increasingly divided country, adrift in its own falsely induced uncertainties by a political party whose sole interest is perpetuating its hold on power, by whatever means and at whatever costs [. . . . ]

Security trumps trade -- Improve border security: former U.S. official CP, March 11, 2005

HALIFAX -- Bureaucrats in Canada and the United States need to move rapidly to improve border security, given the continuing threat of terrorist attacks, a former U.S. security official said Friday.

Maj. Chris Hornbarger, who spoke at a conference in Halifax, was policy director for the U.S. Homeland Security Council, where he planned security measures for the U.S.-Canada border following the 9-11 terrorist attacks. [. . . . ]

Search: "smart border", Detroit-Windsor, Mexico