Punishing criminals is the best way to show true compassion to innocent, law-abiding Canadians.
The horrific mass stabbing in Saskatchewan is causing many Canadians to reckon with the fact that our justice system is an absolute joke.
After all, Myles Sanderson was granted parole despite his own community parole supervisor advising against it:
“When a Parole Board of Canada member decided that releasing Myles Sanderson did not pose an undue risk of his violent re-offending, provided he maintains sobriety and a job, regular therapy, and lives with a family member whose identity has not been released, it was against the recommendation of Sanderson’s community parole supervisor.”
Sanderson – who had 59 criminal convictions yet was still walking about – was still released by the system.
And Canadians have long watched as the justice system puts criminals ahead of law-abiding Canadians, a point well-made by Lorrie Goldstein in the Toronto Sun:
“In fact, the parole board’s kid-glove treatment of Sanderson isn’t unusual, nor is it an outlier in parole decisions and it will inevitably happen again, as it has so many times in the past.
It’s the inevitable result of prison and parole reforms by Canadian federal governments starting in the 1970s, initially implemented by the Liberals but embraced by Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats of the day, which has endured for more than five decades as the foundational principles of how our parole system treats even violent and repeat offenders.
Those principles were set down by the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau in an Oct. 7, 1971 half-hour statement to Parliament by then Solicitor General Jean-Pierre Goyer.
“For too long a time now,” Goyer said “our punishment-oriented society has cultivated the state of mind that demands that offenders, whatever their age and whatever the offence, be placed behind bars. Even nowadays, too many Canadians object to looking at offenders as members of our society and seem to disregard the fact that the correctional process aims at making the offender a useful and law-abiding citizen, and not any more an individual alienated from society and in conflict with it.
“Consequently, we have decided from now on, to stress the rehabilitation of individuals rather than the protection of society … Our reforms will perhaps be criticized for being too liberal or for omitting to protect society against dangerous criminals. Indeed, this new rehabilitation policy will probably demand much striving and involve some risks …””
Well, it turns out that ‘striving’ and ‘risks’ aren’t worth it.
Canada’s justice system needs a complete overhaul.
Focus on punishment and accountability
There is a reason that punishment remains a key force in human interaction.
In a perfect world, we could deal with every problem through a rational discussion.
But the sad reality is that some human beings are so screwed up and broken that they pose a huge danger to others.
While it’s a crude comparison, just as a computer or mechanical device can be dysfunctional beyond repair, some human beings are also dysfunctional beyond repair, and no amount of compassionate feelings or idealism can change that.
Others can only be dealt with through punishment, rather than incentives.
This also brings us to a discussion about what compassion really means.
Is it compassionate for a justice system to repeatedly free people who abuse and assault others?
Is it compassionate for the vast majority of non-violent people to have to live in fear?
And is it compassionate for a community to be burying many of their loved ones because the corrupt system put the needs of a criminal ahead of the needs of everyone else?
I would argue that the system as it exists today is the system that is truly cruel and punishing, as it punishes the innocent and leaves many to experience the horrendous cruelty of living without those they love most.
This has to change.
We must recognize that instead of prioritizing rehabilitation and naïve thoughts of ‘reforming’ every criminal, prisons exist primarily to be large fortress-like structures designed to keep dangerous people inside, so innocent people outside are safer.
It is a fact of human nature that someone is going to end up being punished, and our only real choice is between punishing those who are guilty, or punishing those who are innocent.
Canadians must vote out all the politicians who support the current ‘punish the innocent’ justice system, and elect people who will ensure that we lock up violent criminals and throw away the key.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – RCMP
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