Author Archive for gurr8

How Much Justice is Enough Justice?

Published by gurr8 February 28, 2008 in General, Politics and Current Events. 17 Comments

Robert Pickton was a pig farmer in British Columbia who [allegedly] murdered 26 women between 1997 and 2001 and buried them on his property. In the name of expediency, the prosecutor decided to move ahead after the first six cases were ready, promising that a second trial would cover the remaining 20 murder allegations. Last year, after an 11 month trial, he was convicted of those six murders (in the second degree). Now, B.C.’s Victim Services is telling victim’s families that a second trial will likely not occur.

Canada does not execute criminals. Pickton received the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 25 years. In 2032 Pickton can apply for parole. At that time he would have to prove to a parole board that he is rehabilitated and is no longer a danger to others. The chances of his being released are, in the words of his own defense attorney, “extremely slim”.

Friends and family of the remaining 20 alleged victims are outraged by the news that a second trial will not likely proceed. Their pain and desire for their day in court is understandable. But the question has to be asked: what would be accomplished by a second trial? Pickton already received the maximum sentence possible. The first trial took 11 months, so it is conceivable that the second trial could take 3 years. It has been estimated that a second trial could cost $100 million.

The Justice System is not infinite and it is not a make-work program. Are we willing to invest 3 years and $100 million for no gain? While it is understandable that these alleged victim’s families want “their turn” at justice, one has to ask whether this desire is in fact a detriment to the Justice System and, therefore, to justice in general.

Canada’s Involvement in the Afghan Mission

Published by gurr8 July 19, 2007 in Politics and Current Events. 143 Comments

With the growing public sentiment (fueled by the Canadian media) against the war in Afghanistan coupled with the prospect of continuing rule by minority government, it seems unlikely that Canadian Forces will continue operations in the Afghan arena beyond the 2009 commitment.

Over the past year, it has become apparent that the Canadian media has taken up the war in Afghanistan as its personal cause (that is, when it isn’t spending all its time talking about climate change). It is impossible for one to go hardly a day without hearing a media outlet (be it a newspaper, radio show, or television newscast) compare the war in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq. This is an effective technique for turning sentiment against the war in Afghanistan: the war in Iraq has never been popular with the Canadian public. Many reasons could be proffered for why the public has such a hatred of the war in Iraq, but it should suffice that after seeing through the non-sense produced by the Bush administration in the lead-up to the invasion, great offense was taken at America’s attempt to bully and insult its closest allies into joining the Iraq foray. While holding a position against the Afghan war is a respectable position (though the author may disagree), there are several reasons why one can – and should – be against the war in Iraq and support the Afghan mission.

  1. While one may be able to argue that the invasion of Afghanistan was hasty, it was supported by the international community and supported with diverse armed forces.
  2. The Afghan community as a whole supports the mission to destroy the Taliban and is glad to be free from their government.
  3. The Afghan mission is not at the point of hopelessness.

Simply comparing the Afghan mission to Iraq is hardly a compelling argument, yet it appears to be working. Support for the operation has dropped from an already low 55% (March 2006) to 40% (May 2007) [PDF].

Canada is currently ruled by a Conservative minority government. In fact, it is the smallest minority government in Canadian history. According to polling, no single party is sitting in a position to form a majority (or even a strong minority) government if an election were called immediately. As such, it is highly unlikely that Canada will see a federal election at all in the foreseeable future and even if an election were called, it appears from the polling that the makeup of the government would change very little. There are currently four parties holding the balance of power: the Conservatives, the Liberals (the Official Opposition), the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois. Only the Conservatives are in favour of continuing to support the Afghan Compact with military force. While the Bloc are representing their constituents (Quebecers are strongly opposed to the mission), the Liberals and NDP appear to be using the controversy as a political bat with which to beat the Conservatives. This political opportunism is worst with the Liberals, who were the ones who put Canada into the mission in the first place and now act as if they never had anything to do with the decision.

The long and short of it is this: regardless of the merits of the mission, Stephane Dion is right: no consensus will ever be reached to extend Canada’s involvement beyond the 2009 commitment. In the author’s view, this is a terrible thing for the people of Afghanistan.

The War on Choice

Published by gurr8 June 21, 2007 in Politics and Current Events. 15 Comments

A majority of Ontarians support the idea of extending Ontario’s smoking ban (Smoke Free Ontario) to include rental apartments. That’s right, people’s private residences. I’ll pause for a moment while our Libertarian readers catch their breath. 37% of respondents opposed such a ban. This is actually good news given that only 15% of Ontarians smoke. Assuming all 15% are against such a ban, that leaves 22% of Ontario’s non-smokers out of the “self-righteous, anti-choice” category.

It is certainly easy to see the logical progression taken by the 60% of the population that would try to regulate a legal activity within private residences. They assume:

1. Second-hand smoke has been proven scientifically to cause cancer.
2. Such a ban would have no effect on them personally.
3. Those smokers should quit anyway.
4. It is acceptable for the government to make moral choices for people.

While one can certainly understand the logical progression leading to support of this ban, there is only one problem with these steps; each and every one of them is false.

The “science” behind the second-hand smoke craze is at best shaky and at worst outright deception. In fact, a massive study of 118,000 people over 40 years found no major effect associated with second-hand smoke. While the evidence continues to point to second hand smoke being virtually harmless, momentum continues to push public opinion the other way.

It is human nature to be more concerned about one’s personal interests than the freedom of others. That fact alone, however, is not sufficient to justify selfishness in our modern world. The foundation of a free society is freedom of choice. While a balance must always be struck between personal freedom and the “common good”, weight should always be given to freedom first. Charles Mingus eloquently highlighted this fact in his adaptation of Martin Niemöller’s famous poem:

One day they came and they took the Communists
And I said nothing because I was not a Communist
Then one day they came and they took the people of the Jewish faith
And I said nothing because I had no faith left
One day they came and they took the unionists
And I said nothing because I was not a unionist
One day they burned the Catholic churches
And I said nothing because I was born a Protestant
Then one day they came and they took me
And I could say nothing because I was as guilty as they were
For not speaking out and saying that all men have a right to freedom

Perhaps the proposed ban won’t affect that 60% of the population, but where do we draw the line? What happens when a majority of the population decides that you shouldn’t enjoy chocolate? Drink coffee? Eat fast food? Slug back a beer? Cook food that has an odour? Perhaps even those who support smoking bans in bars would have a different opinion if they owned a restaurant and were told they could serve only vegetarian meals and bottled water.

The Western World is running into many tough questions and choices as we try to allow personal freedom while also creating a good society for everyone. We will have many difficult choices as we tackle the problem of global climate change (which requires collective action to resolve). Abortion, spanking, gay marriage and polygamy are all issues that will continue to spark a great deal of controversy. While the answer is not always clear-cut, it should always be deliberated within the paradigm that individual freedom of choice is of paramount importance in a just and free society.

Archives

Archive for gurr8.

Archive for gurr8.

October 2008
M T W T F S S
« Sep    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  

Archive for gurr8.