Vlednesday. November 4, 1998 - North Shore News — 9

north shore news

MAIL Box
Time to cut the News’ errors rr"

to space constraints the North Shore News
cagnot publish all lerters, Published ietters may
be edited for brevity, chin, accuracy. legatinw
and taste. Submissiens can be faxed ta 985-

PEPPERS to the ecditer must be lcvible
Dear Editor:

Re: The
(OcnJ5y.

The editorial commences,
“you probably don't realize it
wy ete. Does the writer real
ize that:
@ The correct designation is
Daylight: Saving “Time (nor
savings}?
B Davtlight Saving Time was
introduced during the cirst
World War as 3
atfording additional carly
morning davlight hours (pri-
marily tor farmers” benetit)?
@ There are seven time zones
in North America, nor four?

25 -Heur dav

means of

Basie research would have
eliminated these editarial
nistakes.

Newspapers should! have
Qo duty to present: correet
basic information as well as
Accurate grammar, spelling
and usage.

At the risk of having my
jetter immediately consigned
to the waste-basker Fo omen-
tion that, same time age. |
engaved in a fruitless quest to
have somebody (anvbody i at
the North Shore News ree-
ognize the fer that 12 p.m.
is not synonyntous with
noon,

Noocane scomed able to
grap the sample met that
pm. ipost meridian) means
12) hours following the
meridian, Estill see 12 pam
er $2 am. where neon or
midnight would be the
Appropriate destenation, as
well as frequent nen words
ie. signawe. or misspelling
of such words ay “barbecue.”

Since | enjoy reading the
North Shore News, it dis
turbs me that what cto mei
are easily avoided mistakes
continue £0 appear.

David Simpson
North Vancouver

Drop-in decision denounced

Dear Editor:

The Seymour Community
Services Society (SCSS)
should re-address its policies
regarding youth in the Deep
Cove area.

Tt has been a sad and stu-
pid chain of events that has
forced Craig Johnston and his
crew out on the street. Why
kill something that is the envy
of many other neighbourhood
communities?

To suggest chat the out-
door activities that were the
litebiood of the drop-i in are “
no longer feasible” is foolish.

These children that are

EXPIRES :

* MAX 2 COUPONS PER TABLE
* VALID ANY DAY

;

the focus of this * “and
security” policy switcheroo
are the same students that the
North Vanceuver School
Board regularly takes on sim-
ilar scheol based curricular
and extra-curricular ourdoor
field trips.

Participation on these trips
is often a course requirement,
vet the SCSS has deemed it
Necessary to squash the very
things thar have kept Craig's
youth program uniquely suc-
cesstitl.

Craig, Johnston is an extra-
ordinary professional. [ have
witnessed first-hand his. fan-

INVITES YOU AND A GUEST TO ENJOY ONE
COMPLIMENTARY DinNER ENTREE WHEN A
SECOND DINNER ENTREE OF EQUAL OR GREATER VALUE IS PURCHASED,

DECEMBER

10,

* pri & SAT SEATINGS BEFORE 6: 30 PM OR AFTER 9:00 Pm

tastic engagement with the
kids in my neighbourhood,

As well, T have personally
seen his attention to. satery
and security on overnight out-
door activities .

He is) an
unsung hero.

It is just like Craig not to

underpaid,

che an ugly scene as part of

his departure. You cannot buy
this degree of integrity.

Hire him back ar double
salary!
David Crowe
NV high school teacher
davesnothere@be.sympati-
co.ca

1998

tpreterabhy wpewrittens and inchide vour
name. full address and telephone number. Due

ted white, m.p.

2104 but sail must be signed.

advertonal, November 4/1998

AO4| JUSTICE, OR JUST A LEGAL SYSTEM?

During the summer, one of my
constituents sent me a November 25,
1972 weekend magazine from a daily
newspaper of the day. He wanted me to
read an article written by former Judge
Maurice Mulligan. who had retired in
June of that year “... in order to be
free to speak against the growing
abuses of the parole system which,
I believe, are undermining law
enforcement in Canada.”

As | read through the article, |
remembered Judge tes Bewley’s
publication “The Breakdown of the
Criminal Justice System in
Caneda”, which was published in 1984. |
decided to share some elements of both
publications with you in this week's report,
mainly so that you can judge whether
anything much has changed in 26 years.

POLLYANNA PAROLE

Citing several examples of serious
crimes committed by parolees, similar to
those which appeared in my September
30th report for this newspaper, Judge
Mulligan stated that “... this Pollyanna
type of parole is making a travesty
of sentencing procedures in the
courts ... the criminals ave laughing
all the way to the bank - the next
bank they are going to rob.” Ke also
wrote that “Laxity in the granting of
parole and leave to dangerous
criminals has resulted in hundreds
of crimes - including robbery,
violent assault and even murder -
which should never have taken
place” and “(i) wonder if parole
would be so readily available to
professional criminals if those
granting it were made personally
liable for damages to the criminals’
victims, or their next-of-kin?” Agood
question considering that Canada now
has “fast track” parole which requires as
little as ONE SIXTH of the sentence to be
served prior to release.

One of the major problems identified by
both judges with respect to the parole
system was the lack of consultation with
the judiciary and police. Mulligan
complained that appointees to the parole
board were too often taken in by the
persuasive powers of professional
criminals, mainly because they were
idealistic academics, instead of people
with field experience such as ex-
policemen. He gave an example, not
unlike cases which can be cited today, in
which Owight Swanson was sentenced to
prison 11 times over an 8 year period, yet
was paroled 5 times, and on each
occasion committed ons or more crimes
while on parole. He concluded that a
“philosophy which ignores the public
interest, together with the administration of
parole by people who are removed from
reality” was the only explanation for such
situations.

LOCKED AND BOLTED DOORS

Way back in 1972, Judge Mulligan
predicted that “by putting
rehabilitation before the good of
society they are inviting a public
backlash which will destroy many
of the worthwhile things which are
capable of being achieved by

| parole.” He called for greater realism in

the consideration of parole for hardened
criminals, to temper the academic
approach of “university graduates of
schc~Is of social work, sociology.
criminology, and other ‘ologies’ who have
had no real experience with real criminals.
real victims, and the realities of court
procedures,” You can no doubt decide for
yourself whether the academic approach
so criticized by Mulligan has indeed failed
us, or whether we have a safer and better
society as a resu:t of the “ology” approach
to rehabilitation and parole.

Judge Bewley, like Judge Mulligan,
severely criticized the academics “who are
long on theory and short on experience”,
blaming them for an increase in crime
which “once rare in most Canadian
communities, is now endemic; ana that
Canadians, who not so many years
ago would be thought eccentric to
lock their doors, now double-bolt
and bar them.” Just 14 years later,
monitored home alarms appear to be
replacing the double-bolts referred to by
Judge Bewley, parents feel obliged to
drive their children to schoo! every day,
women participate in “Take Back the
Night” marches, and home invasions and
drive-by shootings are not uncommon.
This is not the Vancouver | came to in
1979.

The academics would have us believe
that in order to improve the situation we
need to show even more understanding
and compassion towards criminals, but
are we law-abiding citizens really
responsible for the deterioration, and is
our lack of compassion for the criminals
truly the root cause of crime? Judge
Bewley felt he knew the answer — we and
our legislators have been duped by the
academics! He gave an example from a
“nigh-falutin’ federally-funded conference
on crime” where the views of the public
were totally discounted and “a very
learned and much-degreed
criminologist stated that police-
mens’ views (on parolees) weren't
of very much account, because on
the whole, they were not very well
educated.” Judge Bewley's response
was that “practical education beats the hell
out of theoretical education, nine times out
of ten, and that the best definition of a
“redneck" (is) a professor who was
mugged last night on his way home across
the campus.”

CRIME CONTROL

Judge Bewley argued that crime
contro! and prevention requires three
essential elements - certainty of
detection, a speedy triai, and certainty of
punishment. In his opinion, the
“enlightened” approach to crime started
more than 30 years ago, has led to a
situation where only about 2 in 10
offenders are now apprehended, (did they
ever catch that person who broke into your §
house’), it often takes six months or more
for a preliminary hearing, a further yeas or
so before the trial, and even after
conviction there is no certainty that the
sentence imposed by the court will be
served.

Doesn't that make you feel aif warm
and fuzzy inside? Excuse me a
moment, | need to go and turn on the
alarm.

“Fed White, M.P. ¢#302-1200. Lyna Vailey Road, North: Vascouver, B.C.. V7] 2A2-

Tels 666-0585. Fax:.666-0509, Internett http://w:

seform.ca/whiteet/._