I like the PC platform on Crime. I have been involved for awhile in the revitalization of “Alberta Avenue” (118 Ave in Edmonton) and have seen first hand the positive impact on a community that results from sustained, concentrated and effective police work. Thanks to Chief Boyd, the members Edmonton Police Service and the Edmonton Police Commission for their terrific work on 118 Ave. This is a perfect example of what can be done - if the necessary resources were made available for the police to do their job.
This 118 Ave area was mostly about drug deals and prostitution. It was where many of the mortgaged frauds took place and where great police work resulted in guilty pleas by the perpetrators of the frauds. Expanding powers of municipalities to tackle crime like shutting down drug houses will provide an enormous payback towards safer communities all over Alberta.
Now 118 Ave is emerging as a revitalized neighbourhood full of artists, festivals and new businesses. New facilities are in progress in the area, there are new neighbours restoring and rebuilding properties. There are new accessible housing developments that are on the verge of becoming reality. Saying you are tough on crime and having the necessary sustained resources to actually be tough on crime is a big difference. Tough action on crime in 118 Ave area has made a big difference to the renewal of life and has added to quality of living on 118 Ave.
I am told that there are chronic criminals who commit the majority of the crimes in Edmonton. This fact is recognized in the Stelmach plan for getting tough on crime as he commits to target repeat offenders. Good idea.
The plan is big on catching bad guys but there is so much more to it. It is very progressive too in that it acknowledges and sets out to deal with some of the major root causes of crime like drugs and mental health issues. More funds for treatment and revised specialized courts are part of the PC plan to better deal with these kinds of “criminals.” These are a meaningful and enlightened approaches to making our communities safer and more liveable – for everyone!
The focus on exploitation of children is already in process but it needs more resources to be effective. The Stelmach plan on crime is on to addressing that concern too. A continued focus on family violence and Fetal Alcohol consequences are examples of more progressive steps in the right direction.
The challenge is proper allocation of resources and that means more money has to be dedicated to properly pay the people who work on these concerns in our communities. We need to show how much we value those community based staffers. They are the folks who deal with these problems involving children, spouses, elders, addicts and the developmentally disabled day in and day out. They are the real keys to any successful outcomes in these policy areas.
Good job Ed and Co. This is the kind of policy announcement I have been waiting for. I think it is a great move in the right direction for all of Alberta.
It's only taken Mr. Stelmach 1 year to get around to it.
ReplyDeleteAnnouncing more cops is a tired Tory bromide to keep supporters scared and feeling like tyhe politicians are doing something. There are bigger fish to fry and the Consertives are avoiding the big issues (you know, like auto insurance, cost of housing and the run away economy)
Ken:
ReplyDeleteI keep asking this question, but you have not responded. I am interested in your assessment of the climate change policy. Some of it came out before the election (January 24), and there was an announcement of some tax credits yesterday. Thoughts? Is the PC climate change plan aggressive
enough in reducing GHG emissions?
Jim
If this was just about more cops you comments would be valid. This is so much more than more cops - read the links.
ReplyDeleteThe campaign is only 10 days old...more stuff on other issues will be coming - have faith.
re: anonymous 2:27:
ReplyDelete"It's only taken Mr. Stelmach 1 year to get around to it. "
Yeah, said another way: He's only been around for a year, folks.
I get the feeling that if he had announced and completed everything he has set out to do in the first minute of taking office, you'd still be bitching.
Right on Anon @ 4:55
ReplyDelete"This fact is recognized in the Stelmach plan for getting tough on crime as he commits to target repeat offenders. Good idea."
ReplyDeleteI agree but apparently Dion does not. He has been continuously blocking any attempt to place particular individuals on a dangerous offenders list. For example, after a criminal has been convicted of three very serious crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, the Conservatives have proposed that the onus ought to be on the criminal to prove on a balance of probabilities that he or she is safe to enter society. Dion opposed this. The Senate opposed this. Shame on Liberals like yourself for preventing these types of advancements.
eric - the world of the self-righteous is so simple to “see” but so hard to live in...because it is so binary and arbitrary when the world is so systemic and relative.
ReplyDeleteWhy 3 offense to qualify as a dangerous offender? Why not one biggie - like the Hep C blood supply negligence - or Walkerton where lots of people died.
We need a place for compassion, understanding, equity and judgment that is founded on the rule of law that fits the intelligence and capabilities of the population of the times.
Dion is right – the CPC proposed law is not appropriate and does not support those foundational qualities I mentioned. It is beneath us as a people to impose such absolutes when the real world of humanity is so distant from that position.
Arbitrary Rules Abuse.
"It is very progressive too in that it acknowledges and sets out to deal with some of the major root causes of crime like drugs and mental health issues. More funds for treatment and revised specialized courts are part of the PC plan to better deal with these kinds of “criminals.” "
ReplyDeletePeople who have drug issues and deal drugs within our city are criminals and there is no need to put it in quotation marks. They should be put in jail and there is no need to spend funds on specialized courts for them. Obviously people with serious mental disabilities do not have the normal mens rea with respect to crimes and they need special attention and care. I would be extremely surprised if our Premier would think that drug dealers who are addicts should somehow be treated more leniently.
"We need a place for compassion, understanding, equity and judgment that is founded on the rule of law that fits the intelligence and capabilities of the population of the times."
ReplyDeleteKen, this is typical liberal droll that does not add to any debate. How can one respond to that comment? By disagreeing with you I am somehow not compassionate, do not believe in equity?
Quite frankly, your whole attitude ignores the victims of crime. Maybe you do have someone in your family that has been the subject of a serious crime. Why should the Crown have the onus of putting such an individual on a dangerous offenders list? Why shouldn't a pedophile who repeatedly rapes young girls and boys after being released from jail have the onus of proving he is suitable to be put back into the general population?
As well, if Dion so intimately believed that he was right on this issue(i.e. that it was not compassionate, etc. etc.), he would ask the Senate to not meet Harper's deadline and hence trigger an election. Instead, he just forgets his so-called principles as he doesn't want an election on crime (this has and will continue to be a strong point for conservatives). It is a sad day when Dion says he totally disagrees with something but then fails to bring down the government. Polls continually show that Canadians feel this is the sign of a weak leader.
When is Stelmach going to get tough on climate change?
ReplyDeleteJim