Thoughts on Bill C-10

So the Canadian government is about to pass a new crime bill, C-10. It is part of their whole "tough on crime" kick.

I respect a tough on crime approach. I think it's time certain offenders get more jail time, no pardons, and are actually punished.

I was part of a campaign back in 2010 when it first came to light that repeat and serious sex offender Graham James had received a pardon back in 2007. It was slipped under the radar and no one knew until it caught the ears of media. There was an uproar and a petition to the government to get rid of pardons for sex offenders. James has been charged with sexually assaulting four young boys who were on the hockey team he was coaching.

This petition was listened to and the government passed a bill that said serious sex offenders aren't permitted pardons. This came just in time for serial killer and sex offender Karla Homolka to be eligible to apply for a pardon. She'll never get a pardon now under this new bill.

The pardons are a start and a good step in the right direction. I comment the government for acknowledging the huge mistake that was made by pardoning James. He fled to Mexico where they don't have a sex offender registry- so who knows what he did down there?

What I have an issue with is the sentencing aspect of this bill. The government made a huge racket about longer jail sentences for criminals and so on. Here's how some of it looks:

- New mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences. One can go to jail for 14 years for growing as few as six pot plants. (Graham James was sentenced to six years in jail, served only two and a half.)

- New mandatory minimum sentences and longer maximums for sex crimes against minors, including new charges of grooming or luring minors. (What they haven't told us is what these sentences will be in comparison with the drug sentences. Something tells me there won't be much change here, but I might be surprised.)

- Tougher penalties for young offenders.

That's a brief overlook. The only hardcore change I see and can commend is the change in pardons. It's what the petition was advocating for and I am thrilled that it went through. However, Bill C-10 is also an ominous reminder that our justice system still needs a lot of work.

I agree drugs are bad. You're an idiot if you decide that wasting your life away on drugs and/or alcohol is a good idea. Smarten up. But by tossing addicts into jail you are doing them no justice. How about we switch things up a bit- rehabilitate addicts and toss sex offenders in jail for a long, long time? Makes more sense to me. Society is trying to rehabilitate the WRONG people. Sex offenders do not have an addiction. They are not ill. They are twisted, sadistic monsters who need to be removed from society; locked up and never let out. At least drug addicts stand a chance of being re-integrated into society and rehabilitated. A rapist will never change. At this point, society tries to "fix" gays more than they try to punish sex offenders. Let me add that gays DO NOT need fixing…but that's a rant for another day.

Bill C-10 has some great features to it. Make serious sex offenders and killers ineligible for pardons for life. Start treating youth criminals a little more harshly so they can see the consequences of their actions and clean up their act when they're still young. What the government is doing wrong is still not being hard enough on sex offenders.