The phrase "Justice is blind" isn't supposed to refer to the justice minister -- but in Irwin Cotler's case, we fear it fits all too well.
Cotler, Prime Minister Paul Martin's go-to guy for all things law-related, visited Toronto this week for what was supposed to be a first-hand look at that city's gun-violence problem. Yet apparently he managed not to see it.
Even as Toronto Mayor David Miller stressed to Cotler the need for our revolving-door justice system to stop being so lenient on gun-toting gangsters, the Liberal minister clung to his mantra that tougher sentences aren't the answer.
He insisted the four-year minimum sentence for gun crimes already on the books is more than tough enough.
But he failed to acknowledge the real problem -- that judges rarely, if ever, impose such sentences. So what good are they?
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"The Supreme Court has already said that it appears four years is the maximum for a mandatory minimum," he told reporters, sounding like the law professor he is.
Rather than face the reality of an ineffectual justice system that releases suspects on bail often the day after they are arrested in possession of loaded handguns, Cotler focused on things like "diversion" programs to help accused youths get counselling and jobs and stay out of jail. The feds may help fund more of them, he said.
A well-intentioned idea, we're sure (and a typical Liberal approach to crime), but it does absolutely nothing for Torontonians right now who are being terrorized by duelling gangs and random gunfire in their neighbourhoods. How can Cotler not see this?
The problem is not, repeat not, that we are sending too many young people to jail who don't belong there (heaven forbid). The problem is that judges are not locking up enough dangerous criminals!
The 20-something gangsters shooting each other and innocent bystanders grew up laughing at flaccid laws that coddled them as youths and shrug as our courts fail to deliver on so-called tough sentences.
They need to be taken off the streets, period. Only then will more witnesses feel safe enough to come forward.
No doubt some kids could be saved from a life of crime by the type of programs Cotler touts. But not if they get shot first.
He needs to get rid of the Liberal blindfold -- better yet, Canadian voters need to get rid of him.
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