Think again when passing the blunt to the left hand side
The metronome-like consistency of the Conservative Party is getting a little boring.
The policies of Harper and the Cons go like this: Campaign on accountability in government and then appoint floor crossing ego monsters like David Emerson. Campaign on senate reform, then appoint an unelected party hack named Michael Fortier to the senate and then into cabinet as Industry Minister... and leave him there. Campaign on fiscal responsibility and then write the biggest spending budget in Canadian history. Appoint a reasonably knowledgeable Jim Prentice to be Minister of Indian Affairs, and then replace him. Cut two points off the GST and then eliminate inexpensive and useful modern programs like the Canadian Health Networking website. Allow the party to pay for attack ads against Stephane Dion when no election is within sight. Stand behind the military mission in Afghanistan, but tell Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, to keep his mouth shut if he's not willing to lip synch the party line. And if all that fails to put the party in majority polling territory, crank up the crime and punishment legislation - that's a sure winner.
Yes, lacking any clear direction other than giggling over the size of the projected budget surplus and tax cuts to come, the Cons have resorted to the oldest play in their book - law and order.
The details of the proposed laws include doubling the maximum sentence for anyone producing marijuana, from seven-to-14 years. Then there's the mandatory one-year in jail for dealing marijuana, if you happen to be part of an organized gang. There's also a mandatory one-year sentence proposed for pot dealers using a weapon or violence.
When we read these bits of legislation in the paper, or watch them being announced at a press conference, the details whiz along. The legislation sounds simple and righteous. Drug dealers are scum, and deserve punishment, unlike RCMP officers who zap people with tasers, or former Prime Ministers who brought in disastrous trade deals like NAFTA while accepting envelopes of cash from German businessmen after creating a nationwide seven per cent sales tax to pay for years of majority seeking overspending. Criminal legislation can't be argued against, really.
No one is going to protest against increased sentences for drug dealers who lurk around the corners of schoolyards across Canada (the caffeine-heavy drinks in the school's vending machines don't count as drug dealing, presumably neither do the wild array of prescribed drugs targeting children's behaviour). Any political opponent of the Cons who comes out against increased law and order is setting themselves up for a PR headache. The Cons know this. If, say, the NDP were to come out against this proposed legislation, you can bet Stephen Harper's bedside bible that the Cons would call the NDP soft on crime. In our sound bite, 15-second attention span, society, that strategy works.
Make no mistake; this drug dealer legislation serves little purpose other than to create potential wedges for the next election and, the Cons hope, a boost in the current polls. But if a representative from the party cares to tell me how its determined if a person is part of an organized gang, I'd appreciate it.
Those unorganized gangsters are likely less of a threat - they're probably just too scatter brained from smoking genetically modified BC bud. I'm also not sure how your local pot dealer uses a weapon while handing out dime bags. Does he or she stick a gun in your face and say, “Smoke this or die!”
What counts as a weapon? Wasn't that long ago that a nail file couldn't be carried onto a plane because of its pointedly deadly nature.
And, of course, when law and order legislation is created the natural progression is to give the police more money to enforce the new laws. Mandatory minimums also mean higher prison populations in our already overcrowded prisons. I'm guessing that soon the Cons will be setting aside money to fund a prison-building project. Or they'll just order the provinces to pay for the prisons to house the criminals that the new legislation creates, because provinces are responsible for offenders with sentences under two years.
The new laws, strangely enough, create mandatory sentences of two years and under for dealing drugs. Coincidence?
If Premier McGuinty manages to crawl out from whatever rock he's been hiding under, maybe he'd read the news and respond. Or maybe he wants the laws on the books so he can build new prisons. Hell, Dalton could name a prison after himself: McGuinty's Mandatorie
Note that passing a joint can be considered dealing. If you get caught handing your pal a blunt and you look like you're organized, or have a sharpened pencil in your pocket... One year, mandatory. Gosh, I can't wait for the Conservatives to get the majority they're lusting after. Imagine the possibilities.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The policies of Harper and the Cons go like this: Campaign on accountability in government and then appoint floor crossing ego monsters like David Emerson. Campaign on senate reform, then appoint an unelected party hack named Michael Fortier to the senate and then into cabinet as Industry Minister... and leave him there. Campaign on fiscal responsibility and then write the biggest spending budget in Canadian history. Appoint a reasonably knowledgeable Jim Prentice to be Minister of Indian Affairs, and then replace him. Cut two points off the GST and then eliminate inexpensive and useful modern programs like the Canadian Health Networking website. Allow the party to pay for attack ads against Stephane Dion when no election is within sight. Stand behind the military mission in Afghanistan, but tell Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, to keep his mouth shut if he's not willing to lip synch the party line. And if all that fails to put the party in majority polling territory, crank up the crime and punishment legislation - that's a sure winner.
Yes, lacking any clear direction other than giggling over the size of the projected budget surplus and tax cuts to come, the Cons have resorted to the oldest play in their book - law and order.
The details of the proposed laws include doubling the maximum sentence for anyone producing marijuana, from seven-to-14 years. Then there's the mandatory one-year in jail for dealing marijuana, if you happen to be part of an organized gang. There's also a mandatory one-year sentence proposed for pot dealers using a weapon or violence.
When we read these bits of legislation in the paper, or watch them being announced at a press conference, the details whiz along. The legislation sounds simple and righteous. Drug dealers are scum, and deserve punishment, unlike RCMP officers who zap people with tasers, or former Prime Ministers who brought in disastrous trade deals like NAFTA while accepting envelopes of cash from German businessmen after creating a nationwide seven per cent sales tax to pay for years of majority seeking overspending. Criminal legislation can't be argued against, really.
No one is going to protest against increased sentences for drug dealers who lurk around the corners of schoolyards across Canada (the caffeine-heavy drinks in the school's vending machines don't count as drug dealing, presumably neither do the wild array of prescribed drugs targeting children's behaviour). Any political opponent of the Cons who comes out against increased law and order is setting themselves up for a PR headache. The Cons know this. If, say, the NDP were to come out against this proposed legislation, you can bet Stephen Harper's bedside bible that the Cons would call the NDP soft on crime. In our sound bite, 15-second attention span, society, that strategy works.
Make no mistake; this drug dealer legislation serves little purpose other than to create potential wedges for the next election and, the Cons hope, a boost in the current polls. But if a representative from the party cares to tell me how its determined if a person is part of an organized gang, I'd appreciate it.
Those unorganized gangsters are likely less of a threat - they're probably just too scatter brained from smoking genetically modified BC bud. I'm also not sure how your local pot dealer uses a weapon while handing out dime bags. Does he or she stick a gun in your face and say, “Smoke this or die!”
What counts as a weapon? Wasn't that long ago that a nail file couldn't be carried onto a plane because of its pointedly deadly nature.
And, of course, when law and order legislation is created the natural progression is to give the police more money to enforce the new laws. Mandatory minimums also mean higher prison populations in our already overcrowded prisons. I'm guessing that soon the Cons will be setting aside money to fund a prison-building project. Or they'll just order the provinces to pay for the prisons to house the criminals that the new legislation creates, because provinces are responsible for offenders with sentences under two years.
The new laws, strangely enough, create mandatory sentences of two years and under for dealing drugs. Coincidence?
If Premier McGuinty manages to crawl out from whatever rock he's been hiding under, maybe he'd read the news and respond. Or maybe he wants the laws on the books so he can build new prisons. Hell, Dalton could name a prison after himself: McGuinty's Mandatorie
Note that passing a joint can be considered dealing. If you get caught handing your pal a blunt and you look like you're organized, or have a sharpened pencil in your pocket... One year, mandatory. Gosh, I can't wait for the Conservatives to get the majority they're lusting after. Imagine the possibilities.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
