Why are so many Canadians soft on crime?
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Who do we care about in this country?
Victims or soft-headed, hand-wringing liberals who don’t have their priorities together?
Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently said he favoured stiffer penalties for home invaders who kill victims. He said, “Send ‘em right to Sparky.” He means the electric chair.
Naturally, Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie jumped all over this. She said, “Beyond disturbing. Just like Trump. Once again, he is showing us who he is.”
Well, I have bad news for Bonnie Crombie.
Doug Ford is showing that who he is matches who Canadians are.
Starting in 2020, Research Co. and Glacier Media research shows majorities in every region side with the return of capital punishment. It’s 57% in Ontario and 62% in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Another question shifts the debate dramatically.
Would we give up on the death penalty if life in prison meant life in prison, with literally no chance of parole?
More than half of Canadians (55%, up two points since 2023) prefer life imprisonment without the possibility of parole to deal with convicted murderers, while just over a third (35%, down two points) choose the death penalty.
An argument against the death penalty is to avoid executing a wrongly convicted person. OK, that happens, but actual life in prison accounts for that.
People will always jump to the most extreme cases, arguing that schoolgirl killer Paul Bernardo will never be released. I am not so sure. We are one liberal parole board from that happening in the future.
Last year, the National Post ran an article titled ‘The heinous offenders Canada has freed in just the last three months.’
Here are the sub-headlines:
–A rapist who burned his victim to death given prison day passes
–Bail for a killer and serial child rapist
–A notorious child kidnapper faces zero consequences for escaping
–Day parole only eight years after beating a woman to death, covering up the murder
–Parole just 13 years after murdering a neighbour over a dispute about a dog
–Unescorted absences from prison less than four years after helping to gun down two men
–Father who helped kill daughter given day parole
–Man who murdered and desecrated remains of Saskatchewan woman starts stalking co-worker upon release
Remember, all of that happened in three months last year.
One of the people referred to is Jatin Patel, a killer, serial child sex offender and one-time dangerous offender, who was subject to police warnings after being granted bail.
So, even being designated a dangerous offender doesn’t guarantee they don’t get released.
It is a federal issue, so what does Pierre Poilievre think about it?
I can’t find a statement from him on it, but he is showing a tough-on-crime stance.
Poilievre said, “Making and selling fentanyl is mass murder. It’s like spraying bullets into a crowd — even if you don’t aim, you will kill people. The penalty should be the same as murder. I will pass mandatory life sentences so fentanyl kingpins never get out of jail and stop killing our kids.”
Average Canadians want tougher penalties for violent crime. They are tired of the court’s turnstile justice.
More people agree with Ford than Crombie. More than many in the media would have you believe.