Growing Crime Should Concern Everyone
To the Editor:
A 91-year-old Ottawa man is tied up, beaten and robbed by four masked men. Police officer John Atkinson
of Windsor, Ontario is shot dead in broad daylight. Both of these crimes occured this past Friday.
A Vancouver bus driver is badly beaten over the weekend by two thugs over a 50-cents dispute.
Then there was the recent mass-murder of eight people associated with the Bandidos motorcycle
gang near London, Ontario.
These types of incidents are far from isolated in Canada these days. Prime Minister Stephen
Harper is trying to make good on his pledge to get tough on crime but because of “concerns”
by the federal opposition parties is being forced to scale back planned legislation. Harper wants to
crack down on gangs, guns and drugs and is focusing on three key inititiatives - mandatory minimum
prison sentences, an end to conditional sentences and house arrests and an increase of the age of sexual
consent to 16 from 14.
For too long in Canada the rights of criminals have trumped the rights of victims and their families.
Your really have to wonder about the “concerns” of the opposition, the motives of the Liberal-dominated senate
and certain elements in the media who seem determined to either slow down or directly oppose
common sense legislation to strengthen law and order. It seems to me that the restoration of safe
and secure communities and the taking back of our streets is in the interests of all of us.
It is time to put petty politics aside and work together with the government to fight the plague of growing crime.
Gerald R Hall
Nanoose Bay, B.C.
