Criminal law experts dismissed Stelmach's warning as "rhetoric" and part of a "disturbing" trend by politicians at all levels to deflect the blame on the important public issue.
Criminologist Doug King said Stelmach, like other politicians, is simply trying to pass the buck on the crime file because nobody wants to take responsibility for ensuring safe streets. ...
"You can't just pressure the Supreme Court of Canada. How do you do that?" wondered King, an instructor at Calgary's Mount Royal College.
"It sounds to me like it's deflecting (the blame) outside the province to find out why things aren't going so well in Alberta in terms of gun and gang activity."
Sunday, October 5, 2008
harper conservatives soft on crime: stelmach.
And something about lobbying the Supreme Court... I'm not sure how that works...
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wow. just wow.
ReplyDeleteI bet Stelmach got a standing ovation from PC Party convention delegates who had no idea what he was talking about. Pure politics.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Harper cares what Stelmach thinks anyway. Alberta isn't in play. What are they going to do? vote against Harper.
Stelmach had better look at the AB judicial system as well as the quasi-judicial systems of the AB HRC and the IRBs operating within AB.
ReplyDeleteIt is these systems/the AB red Tory group that are soft on crime as regards gangs, weapons, drugs,repeat offenders, etc. and allowing months of investigative drug work to be thrown out on minor technicalities without appealing.
Harper had better become a little more cautious about blatant disregard when it comes to dealing with the AB gov't. and AB voters. AB may not be in play right now as regards Central Canada control but the sands are shifting.
Well isn't that the name of the Alberta game?
ReplyDeleteStelmach's next tactic will probably be to blame the NEP or Pierre Trudeau's ghost for crime.
I find it interesting that with these preceding comments, we have four guys who did not actually hear the speech, pronounce upon it with just a newspaper article for reference.
ReplyDeleteWhat Stelmach actually said, was that the province would go after drug and prostitution houses and other criminal enterprises through civil actions (such as using Health and Safety legislation to shut down a meth lab). He then dared the courts to overturn those actions.
Quite a different tack from what the newspaper article tried to promote as news (and what the Edm Journal promoted as a headline: "Stelmach Challenges Judges"). Guess it was a slow news day, what with the Liberals choosing a leader and all.
Another interesting observation from the PC conference. There were about 120 "youth" delegates, which is nearly the sum total of all delegates to the Liberal convention.
ReplyDeleteThat the Liberal convention was in Edmonton, and thus easier for young people to attend, is also noteworthy.