Taking a second look

Last Thursday, the Conservative government's Tackling Violent Crime Act [Bill C-2] received Royal Assent and became law.

The Conservatives touted these changes to Canada's Criminal Code, saying they would better protect citizens against those who commit serious and violent crimes.

Under the changes, there will be longer mandatory jail time for serious gun crimes; and new bail provisions requiring those accused of serious gun crimes to show why they shouldn't be kept in jail while awaiting trial.

The new law also increases the age of consent for sexual activity with someone at least two years older, from 14 to16-years-old; increases sentencing and monitoring of dangerous, high-risk offenders; finds new ways to detect and investigate drug-impaired driving; and imposes stronger penalties for impaired driving.

While these reforms have a feel-good ring to them, especially for a government based in ultra-rightwing ideologies, they deserve a closer inspection.

For those people who commit serious gun crimes or have sex with underage youth, tougher jail sentences are unlikely to deter them from committing these crimes.

If a Canadian citizen actually has the mindset to carry around a gun and take out innocent lives with it - or take sexual advantage of an underage person - it's unlikely they keep themselves abreast of what sort of penalties they face if caught.

Even if offenders are kept away from the general public for longer periods of time, one wonders how that will actually benefit society in the long run.

These people will likely be freed at some point, and those long sentences are likely to further 'harden' these criminals - possibly make them just as likely to re-offend when reintroduced into society.

What was lacking from the government's reform was any sort of extra plans to aid in the rehabilitation of offenders.

If criminals are going to be kept away from society for long periods of time, it would be beneficial if they can somehow be helped to become law-abiding and productive members of society when released.

In conjunction with that, the government should also be looking for the root causes of criminal activity - finding out what exactly makes a person commit serious crimes in the first place.

What they would likely find with these offenders, and even those charged with lesser offenses, are alarming backgrounds of abuse and neglect.

A young man was sentenced at Stephenville Provincial Court recently for his role in a robbery.

In the pre-sentencing report, it was noted this person was neglected and abused by his mother and others from a very early age, and was bounced in and out of foster care - all of which was noted to manifest itself into his troubling conduct.

His attorney also noted while this teenager needs to learn accountability for his actions, he should also be given the opportunity to be re-educated on what is acceptable in Canadian society.

While it may not sound overly voter-friendly, helping criminals cultivate lives as productive members of society is by far more beneficial than just leaving them to fester in jail for extended periods of time.