The next Liberal leader, to be chosen in two months time, will almost certainly be one of four men: Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion, or Gerard Kennedy. I am a little wary of Michael Ignatieff, given his initial support for the invasion of Iraq, but all four are much better choices than the current Prime Minister.

Stephen Harper leads the most socially divisive and ideologically-driven federal government in my lifetime. No longer the Progressive Conservatives of Robert Stanfield or John Diefenbaker, they are simply extremists, politicians in the mold of George Bush, driven by dogma, and intolerant of differences in lifestyles, values and beliefs. In the area that I work and understand best — crime — they have rejected evidence-based policy, in favour of their own ideological convictions. Implement mandatory minimum sentences, even though they don’t work. Cut harm reduction programs for drug addicts, even though they do work. Follow the U.S. lead, with three strikes laws, even though study after study has revealed that these laws are an abysmal failure.

(more…)

Meet me at the bottom
Don’t lag behind………….(Bob Dylan, Workingman’s Blues #2, Modern Times)

What a strange world. We allow Kimveer Gill and other disaffected young men to possess semi-automatic rifles, and we criminalize the possession of cannabis. Not that the possession of cannabis is an act that we should applaud, but if the goal of criminal law is to prohibit dangerous commodities, should we not be at least somewhat depressed by the strange ordering of priorities that we have created? What are most of us actually more concerned about? Young men in possession of semi-automatic rifles, or young men in possession of cannabis? Yes, cannabis can leave you sleepy and unproductive, and a steady diet can leave a young person in a bit of a fog. But I will sleep a little more comfortably knowing that the boys down the street are smoking the herb rather than wandering through the bushes with their CX4 storm rifles — even if it’s only target practice that is on their agenda.

The arrest of a suspect in recent attacks against Vancouver’s homeless is certainly a positive. Another positive that could flow from these nasty attacks might be a greater understanding of and concern for the plight of those who are homeless: a recognition that these men and women deserve our support, not condemnation — or by-laws to drive them further underground. Most of those who live on city streets suffer from either mental illness, the effects of longstanding substance abuse, or an unfortunate combination of the two. We de-institutionalized mental health facilities in the 1980s, but we have yet to create a capacity to respond to the new set of problems that we developed. We can only hope that progress can occasionally flow from tragic events.

There are those who argue that statistics are ultimately meaningless, quantitative data that can be manipulated in accordance with the ideological leanings of the author. These folks usually don’t understand probability — or have been seduced by the nihilism of post-modern thought.

Consider the claim of defence counsel in the trial of the O.J. Simpson case. Tens of thousands of men beat their wives in North America every year, and yet less than one per cent of these men actually kill their wives. In other words, the fact that O.J. Simpson beat his wife does not in any way lead to the conclusion that he is a murderer.

(more…)

Law is very important in the lives of all of us. Despite the claims of some pretenders — economics, psychology, sociology and a few others — law is ultimately the pre-eminent social science. The way in which we live is structured by law: what and who we define as deviant, the way in which we treat the environment, the rules that produce wealth for some and relegate others to absolute and relative poverty. We all have a stake in the legal process; it is ultimately law that defines our civilization.

Further, law teaches us that we have to operate within the consciousness of our communities. While solutions to social conflict are often motivated by radical ideas, radical ideas without the insight of practical application are unlikely to be taken seriously, and may do more harm than good.

It was no surprise that the Conservative government support for Insite was somewhat less than enthusiastic. By extending Insite’s operating exemption to December 31, 2007 (by email, at 4 p.m., before the Labour Day weekend), the Conservatives signalled both a pragmatic political accommodation, and, more significantly, their intention to close down the facility in the wake of their hoped-for majority at the polls in the not too distant future.

The evidence of benefits for the consumers of the site was clear enough — a reduction in the likelihood of overdose deaths, a reduction in the transmission of potentially fatal diseases, and improved access to health services, all for a socially and economically disadvantaged population of injectable drug users.

(more…)