The federal government is campaigning across our country for more jails. I find this interesting on many levels. Especially, considering the fact that since 2005, B.C. has 12 per cent less provincial court judges hearing more cases.
Crime has reached new levels in B.C. yet the only thing that has changed is the amount of money being slotted for it. It is harder than ever to find legal aid., it is harder than ever to get heard before a judge and it is harder than ever to convict. Why? This is the question that apparently is now being blamed on no HST. The Liberal government is saying that more cuts are coming to our legal system, if we listen to the NDP and scrape the HST. What?
The cuts were here long before the HST. How this leap was made is a mystery. The Liberal spin doctors have leapt a bit too far. Judges have been refusing to hear cases because of cutbacks to security. No security in the courtroom, no hearing - that is what the judges are saying.
So back to this HST thing. 14.5 million in court, prosecution and judiciary cuts were approved in February’s provincial budget. Judges are worried. Victims are being victimized by the provincial government. Criminals are walking because of delayed trials. The only thing different between the criminal and the politician is that one is wearing a suit and apparently oblivious to what justice entails.
Justice is fleeting at best in Canada. Criminals walk daily. Some because of good lawyers, some because of incompetent investigations and some because of the ticking time bomb of budget cuts.
More jails will do what? Should we spend money to fix problems or to make problems? I for one think it is time for the lies to slow to a casual walk from a blistering dash. Spending money we don’t have to build jails for criminals who aren’t even making it to the punishment stage seems more than kind of silly, it seems criminal.
These days we could fill more jails with politicians than with criminals or are they one and the same. A suit doesn’t make a liar honest nor does a jail fix a broken justice system. We need to fix a social system that is broken, we need to fix a justice system that is broken and we need to fix a political system that is ridiculously broken.
Instead of starting with families who are broken and trying to save children in bad situations, the government turns a blind eye. Social workers are maxed out and given a few crumbs to fix a bakery full of shocking abuses. There is not nearly a big enough safety net.
It takes a village to raise a child, certainly not our shameful government. A child is a commodity able to be cut. The village is awake, but not listening carefully enough. It is time to plug in all the way. HST is not the problem, result, solution or symptom. Justice has to start with those we elect.