Let me clarify that a bit. There is always anger in Canada these days, usually directed at the Conservative government. We have evolved from being the nice guys in the world to being like everyone else; loud and brash with hair-triggers on our angry and too often, ill-informed opinions. Much of the recent anger has been directed at the government and more specifically, Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
But the anger in much of Canada is focused on something else today. Graham James was convicted and sentenced to two years.
For my non-Canadian readers and friends, let me provide a little background. Graham James is a former hockey coach who is a convicted pedophile. He is our version of Penn State’s accused child molester, former football coach Jerry Sandusky with the only difference being that Mr. Sandusky has yet to be convicted of anything.
Mr. Graham is not only a convicted child molester, he is a convicted serial child molester and yesterday he received a two-year sentence for his second conviction.
Canadians are angry.
Editorials have been written. People have called online radio programs to voice their outrage. There are criticisms of the judge in the case for exercising too much discretion in passing sentence, for not understanding the true nature of the case or for just being an idiot. There are demands that the government do something to protect children and to limit the discretionary authority of judges when it comes to sentencing.
Canadians are justifiably concerned and they are angry. They were also angry when the current government introduced its comprehensive crime bill which dealt with two main areas; violent crime and the crime of sexual child abuse. The new bill moves to limit the discretionary authority of the courts when it comes to sentencing.
At the time it was introduced, many Canadians criticized the legislation as draconian, it was oppressive and just one more example of the totalitarian fascist state that Prime Minister Harper was introducing into Canada. He was accused of being obsessive about crime and for trying to impose regressive punishment on convicted criminals instead of introducing new measures to combat the causes of crime. The criticism against the bill was based more on dislike of the Prime Minister than anything even closely resembling common sense.
Until this morning.
This morning the same media and many of the same Canadians who failed to recognize that the government had, perhaps, correctly identified the problem with our courts and had introduced the needed legislation to try to correct that problem are now demanding the government they criticized do something.
It is national schizophrenia fueled by blind ideology and ill-informed thinking or more likely, just a complete lack of common sense. Perhaps it is all three. Take your pick.
Canadians are angry because a convicted serial child molester has once again received a light, inappropriate sentence. They are right to be angry. In this country, a bank robber receives a stiffer sentence than Mr. James received for his second child sexual assault conviction. There is something wrong with a justice system that has such inverted values.
There is also something wrong with a society when too many within it fail to recognize until after the fact, when a government they have decided to hate actually gets it right. As Christie Blatchford of the National Post wrote, the Graham James sentence is "par for the course| and that is neither a surprise to the government nor should it have come as a surprise to Canadians. The travesty is that too many Canadians refused to acknowledge that in their blind opposition to the Conservative government's crime bill because they were simply opposed to the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.
It doesn’t matter whether you support one political ideology or another. What matters is when you allow ideology to make you so blind to common sense, you actually end up opposing the very thing you want and need simply because the political party or leader you hate is introducing it.
It doesn’t matter whether you support one political ideology or another. What matters is when you allow ideology to make you so blind to common sense, you actually end up opposing the very thing you want and need simply because the political party or leader you hate is introducing it.
If this bill had been passed two years ago when it was first introduced by the Conservative minority government Mr. James might well be serving a much longer sentence today. But it wasn't. It died on the order paper, just one more victim of politics and ideology undermining common sense.
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| Prime Minister Stephen Harper |
Canadians are right to be angry today. They should be angry with Mr. James and with the courts. What has happened is not justice nor is it moral.
But many Canadians should also be angry with themselves for the hypocrisy of allowing ideology and delusions to cloud their judgment. The one person they have no right to be angry with is the prime minister. He saw these problems with our courts years before and moved to do something about it. For that he was ridiculed and called a fascist.
But many Canadians should also be angry with themselves for the hypocrisy of allowing ideology and delusions to cloud their judgment. The one person they have no right to be angry with is the prime minister. He saw these problems with our courts years before and moved to do something about it. For that he was ridiculed and called a fascist.
Perhaps if Canadians had listened and actually thought for a moment instead of giving in to hysterical and unfounded fears, Mr. James would not be now serving a sentence that will see him released after having served only six months.
And that, my friends, is just one more price a society pays when people recklessly abandon common sense to emotional knee-jerk reactions based on nothing more substantial than a dislike for someone. As the former victim of not one but two sexual predators when I was a child, I'm tired of this rampant and willful blindness interfering with finding consensus on resolving the most serious issues we face.
LINKS
CTV News Video of Victims's Reaction To James' Sentence
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120320/graham-james-sentencing-120320/
Anger Greets Two Year Sentence - The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/graham-james-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison-in-sex-assault-case/article2375149/
Graham Sentence is Par For The Course - The National Post
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/03/20/christie-blatchford-the-travesty-is-that-graham-james-sentence-is-par-for-the-course/
RELATED POSTS
After The Storm - A Rainbow's Rant
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/after-storm-rainbows-rant.html
We Are Not A Village
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/we-are-not-village.html
Who Speaks For These Children?
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/02/who-speaks-for-these-children.html
Suffer The Little Children - And They Do
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/02/suffer-little-children-and-they-do-even.html
Our Children Would Be Safer If They Were Baby Dolphins
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/01/too-many-children-would-be-safer-if.html
The Dark Children's Gift That Keeps On Giving
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2011/12/child-abuse-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.html
Where Is The Outrage?
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2011/11/where-is-outrage.html
LINKS
CTV News Video of Victims's Reaction To James' Sentence
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120320/graham-james-sentencing-120320/
Anger Greets Two Year Sentence - The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/graham-james-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison-in-sex-assault-case/article2375149/
Graham Sentence is Par For The Course - The National Post
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/03/20/christie-blatchford-the-travesty-is-that-graham-james-sentence-is-par-for-the-course/
RELATED POSTS
After The Storm - A Rainbow's Rant
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/after-storm-rainbows-rant.html
We Are Not A Village
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/we-are-not-village.html
Who Speaks For These Children?
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/02/who-speaks-for-these-children.html
Suffer The Little Children - And They Do
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/02/suffer-little-children-and-they-do-even.html
Our Children Would Be Safer If They Were Baby Dolphins
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/01/too-many-children-would-be-safer-if.html
The Dark Children's Gift That Keeps On Giving
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2011/12/child-abuse-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.html
Where Is The Outrage?
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2011/11/where-is-outrage.html
© 2012 Maggie's Bear
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I thought we were angry because the mandatory minimum sentences were not proportional to the crime. The example that most often was cited was the sentencing for child abuse vs the sentencing for pot plants. Have I misunderstood the nature of the anger?
ReplyDeleteNo, you're right as far as that goes but we're also angry about revolving door justice that sees convicted criminals back on the streets after serving only 1/3 of their sentence. We're angry about people demanding we fix the wrong things in our justice system and we're angry about the fact that judges and the courts have too much discretion.
DeleteOn Monday, a judge threw a number of cases out of court because the crown attorney was delayed arriving. No judge should be allowed to dismiss criminal charges because he't having a hissy fit.
The new crime legislation is an attempt to address those issues but too many condemned it, not for its content, but because it was Harper delivered. That's like refusing medical treatment for a medical emergency because you don't like the doctor.
I think Harper and the Conservatives have a way of presenting legislation that serves them, and us, not well at all. The content of the Bill needs work. Instead of listening to experts and to common sense, they stand their ground and never admit to mistakes and become very stubborn.
ReplyDeleteThe judge who lets criminals go because the attorney was late should not be a judge. But we cannot take reasoning out of the role of judge. If so, what would we need judges for?
I don't agree with you about the government on this issue and I definitely don't agree with you about the role of judges. In a jury trial, a judge's role should be to insure that the law is followed on both sides of the argument. In a trial by a judge, the role expands to include determining guilt or innocence. There should be no discretion beyond that. In this country, people who are convicted of the same crime in different jurisdictions are sentenced to vastly different sentences based soley on the discretion of the judge and there is no fairness in that.
DeleteYou believe the government has thought out this bill well?
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, as you well know, most legislation is drafted by bureaucrats. Secondly, this bill was drafted before the last election and was put before committees of a minority parliament where it got discussed and massaged. Finally, it was part of an election campaign platform which saw more than 40% of Canadians vote for the party that brought it forward.
DeleteI believe that those who blindly oppose anything that is put forward by the Conservatives simply because it was put forward by the Conservatives have lost sight of the issues.
The Bill had been discussed and some changes had been agreed on. When they got their majority they just let those changes die. So no we did not vote for this bill.
ReplyDeleteAlso I don't believe we should agree with everything the Conservatives do just because we hate Bob Rae. That is also losing sight of the issues.
So far the only part of the Conservative agenda I can agree on is the Health Care.
You actually agree on more than that one issue. You agree with Harper that capital punishment shouldn't be reopened. You agree that the abortion issue shouldn't be reopened. The simple reality is that the anti-Harper rhetoric has nothing to do with issues. People have decided that he is cold, controlling and evil. Therefore anything he does is wrong. There are no heroes in our government, just some very flawed leadership on all sides of the aisle. That makes it imperative that we focus on issues rather than personalities. I'm tired of watching this country be undermined by uninformed anger and vitrolic. There is nothing in that bill that any law abiding Canadian should fear and much they should champion and would champion if anyone but Harper had introduced it.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with Bob Rae.
Except he doesn't want to reopen the abortion issue because he would lose points. Same with the capital punishment. Me, I believe in my positions.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter what he does, those who have a visceral dislike for him always find a way to twist his motives, even when he is on the same side of the issue as they are. It's absurd.
Delete