A man kills his three innocent young children, is deemed not mentally competent, doesn’t have to stand trial, doesn’t have to hear victim impact statements, doesn’t have to go to jail and really has very little consequences for his actions. I’m sorry, but when I heard that they are thinking about giving this man Schoenborn escorted outings after only three years of mild penance, I was mad. Does hard time for hard crime even exist any more in this country?
I am a proud Canadian who has been watching and learning about every aspect of our country as it unfolds and it seems that we are not getting smarter, but getting stupider as time goes by. Our justice system is falling apart and criminals are being released from their crimes because of the length of time it is taking for these crimes to reach trial. The losers are the past victims and the future victims. This is not okay, so how are we striving to remedy it?
We aren’t. The provincial government has decided to slash more from the justice system. Need legal aid? Good luck. It is very difficult for low income earners to find anyone worth their weight as a lawyer able to take on a case with the attention it needs. Forget justice. Your case might not even see the light of day.
I go into the local courthouse several times a year to hear cases pertinent to local residents. Rarely do we report on anything unless it has a big impact on the community. Most of the time I sit there and watch the same people stall from having their cases heard, shuffle dates, make excuses and generally waste the court judges time. Judges have the patience of saints.
Our justice system is just one item on my gripe list. While Germany is working to phase out all nuclear powered generator plants what is Canada doing? Our politicians have decided the exact opposite of Germany. We are expanding our nuclear power over the next ten years. What a brilliant idea! It has worked so well for the Japanese. Let’s all follow that example or perhaps Chernobyl.
Then there is our health system... While other countries far surpass our own country in the health care they offer their citizens, ours has been very good. Every Canadian has the right to affordable health care in this country. Slowly that is being taken away from us and many can’t even be bothered to vote.
My brother was getting his hair cut recently and he asked his hair dresser if she voted. Her answer, “I can’t be bothered with that b.s..” My response - “Can’t be bothered having medical? Can’t be bothered making a living wage? Can’t be bothered protecting our resources for our children? Can’t be bothered stopping our country from polluting itself into oblivion? Which part of that are you okay with?
I want to believe that Canadians are smart and truly I think many of us are. Every day I meet Canadians who are making a difference, but then there are these others and unfortunately they seem to be the oblivious majority. I don’t want to be labelled the stupidest first world country in the world, but it seems we are heading that way under our current leadership.