Crackdown on Crime?

Today I received a ‘leaflet’ in the mail from my local MP, James Moore regarding which political party is on the right track when it comes to crime in this country. The main point of the leaflet is “Age Is No Excuse.” That just because an offender of a crime is a youth, they should be treated no less than an adult (depending on the severity of the crime… of course.) The point of this leaflet was to choose a political party member who you thought was “on the right track” at combating crime. I was seriously baffled at the notion of having to decide which political party leader was ‘on the right track’….. but here were the options…..

• Stephane Dion
• Stephen Harper
• Jack Layton
• Elizabeth May

I personally wondered where the “NONE OF THE ABOVE” check box was and quickly realized that there was not one and decided to write Mr. James Moore a letter, letting him in on my view of the Criminal Justice System in this country. The following was sent to his office….

July 25, 2008

Re: “Above the Law” leaflet

To James Moore, MP

Your office recently mailed out a leaflet entitled “Above the Law” asking the citizens of Port Moody, Westwood and Port Coquitlam a question regarding the Criminal Justice System in this country. Your leaflet asked “Who do you think is on the right track on crime?” Well, Mr. Moore, my answer would have to be none of the above. The criminal Justice System in this country is a complete joke. Not only for the light sentences of youth AND adult offenders but for failing the victims of crime as well.

First of all we have our Attorney General, Wally Oppal who seems to come up with excuse after excuse regarding the way that criminals in this country are sentenced. I have contacted him on several occasions regarding the dragging death of Grant De Patie and the reduced sentence of youth offender Darnel Pratt. Now we find out that Mr. Pratt seems to be in some more trouble after assaulting another inmate while incarcerated. The reduction of his sentence now in hind sight seems rather wrong, don’t you think?

I also contacted Mr. Oppal in regards to the Oak Bay murder / suicide involving Mr. Peter Lee. Mr. Lee had assaulted his wife prior to the murders and was arrested for causing bodily harm and aggravated assault. Police made recommendations to the court that he remain in custody. Instead Mr. Lee was released on bail with numerous court orders not to contact his wife, enter the home, or posses any weapons. But did that protect Ms. Park and her family? No. Now every politician, judge and police officer in this country should carry that family’s blood on their hands for not ensuring their safety and for not making the laws around sentencing these offenders more strict.

And lastly ( I could go on, but I will not take up any more of your time) I would like to mention Mayor Scott Young. I am a resident of Port Coquitlam. I grew up in this town and have lived here for the majority of my life. I am also a victim of domestic violence and assault. I do not appreciate the fact that the Mayor of my hometown has been charged and convicted of assault and continues to remain Mayor of this city. I do not appreciate his pompous attitude regarding the matter either. That right there shows you just how screwed up this system is.

I was beaten by my now ex-boyfriend. He gave me two black eyes, choked me, held me against my will for over an hour while confining me and threatening to kill me. After fleeing the scene he was found by police, appeared before a judge and was released on bail with numerous court orders not to contact myself or my family. While awaiting trial he breached those conditions on numerous occasions to the point where I had to have my phone number changed. Each time he breached those conditions I called the RCMP officer in charge of my file to inform him of what was going on and every time I would have to leave a voicemail because he was never available to speak to me in person. By the time the date of the trial came my ex decided to play it safe and accept a plea bargain. He pled guilty and in return the crown sentenced him to a few days in jail. At that time my ex had an extremely lengthy criminal record. He is a career criminal. His mother has informed me that to this day he is still in and out of jail on a regular basis. And you want to know why this is? Because every single time he commits a crime in this country all he gets is a slap on the wrist, released on bail, court conditions that he can breach because he knows he can get away with it, and a minor sentence EVERY SINGLE TIME. And now I have a Mayor that is convicted of assault and I am expected to take him seriously? Please!

There is a lot that needs to be done about the Criminal Justice System in this country Mr. Moore regardless of the offenders age and I believe those changes can not come soon enough. All the offenders mentioned above, regardless if they are a youth offender or an adult seem to think that they are “Above the Law.” As for if any of the candidates mentioned on your leaflet are on the right track against crime in this country? I guess only time will tell.

I thank you for your time.

Thats my take on the system…….

I Just Don’t Have The Heart….

I haven’t been here in quite sometime. I have stopped by… here and there…. but most days I just can’t find the time. I have comtemplated just deleting this blog…. but I just don’t have the heart to do it. I put so much time, thought, effort into the writings … that to kill it so easily, with just a couple click of a mouse, seems wrong.

I have now made a vow to myself to take a little time out of a day to come here to write…. and I will try to do that. It will most likely not be everyday… but atleast a few days out of the week.

The Loop & Swap

This past weekend was a long weekend in Canada…. it was Victoria Day. We drove to Kamloops and spent the weekend there. Neil, my bf, has a couple of friends who live there so we were able to stay with them. They have two kids…. Kayla and Austin, who seemed to be fascinated with Lukas… our little son.

We also went to Shuswap Lake. Neil’s friends parents have a house there, so we spent Saturday night on the Shuswap. It’s so nice there! The houses are cheap. A lot cheaper than here in the lower mainland.

The only bad part of the whole trip was seeing the devastation that Mountain Pine Beetle has created. There are so many dead trees…. it’s really a serious problem. When we were first driving into town we could see all the trees that had turned a red/orange colour… my first thought was that they must be affected by the beetle…. and sure enough. It’s quite sad.

We are thinking of possibly moving to Kamloops in the future. The real estate prices are far cheaper than anything you could find here in Vancouver. Maybe one day I will actually have the pleasure of owning my own home!

What I Would Give To Get That Day Back..

Have you ever wanted to have a day back?  You know… it could have been a really good day, one that you would like to have the pleasure of experiencing all over again… or maybe something really bad happened and you would like to be able to go back and avoid the whole thing so that now your life would be a just a little easier.  What a wonderful world it would be if that were possible.

A few months ago I found out that I am being sued.  A small motor vehicle accident that occurred at a whole whopping 5 kilometers per hour rate of speed (possibly even less than that, as we were pretty much at a stand still… stuck in traffic)… has now turned into this massive trumped up, over rated accident in which the other people are now claiming personal injuries against me.   I have now found out that I am going to need a lawyer… one in which I cannot afford… especially after just having a baby.  I spoke with a lawyer today who gave me his rate of $300 per hour.  $300 per hour!  You know two hours would almost eat up a whole two weeks payment of my maternity leave.  I have a feeling that I am about to get completely screwed… and not in a good way!

If anyone knows of a decent lawyer in the Vancouver area… who might give a not so well off girl a break… let me know!

The Little Things….

The little things that drive me crazy…

First of all…. my Ipod headphones… how the hell do they get so tangled?

People trying to find parking at the gym. Must you “stalk” people just to get a close spot… come on people we are going to the gym for heavens sake. Having to walk a little further from your car to the gym is not going to kill you.

I have said this before, and I will have to say it again…. wipe down the fucking machines after you have finished using them. The other day there was this girl at the gym (who had a nice physique & was quite attractive) using two different machines and failed to wipe both of them down… sorry honey but that’s just nasty.

Tractor trailer’s who insist on driving in the fast lane. Is there not a law that they must stay to the right unless they are passing someone?

And finally (well for now at least.. ha ha) people who do not stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk. Yesterday I was walking with my 7 week old son in his stroller and had to wait at a marked crosswalk while six cars drove past us and no one even slowed down.. let alone even thought of stopping for us. Then when we did finally get to cross, along comes a mini van with some asshole driving it who decides that because I have made it to the middle of the crosswalk he doesn’t have to slow down at all or stop. I gave him a little unfriendly wave… just to say “hey thanks for slowing down” and he simply waved back at me and kept driving at the same speed. Pretty shameful…. especially when just two days ago a four year old boy was hit while walking with his mother in a marked crosswalk only a few blocks away from where we were crossing. Sadly the little boy is still in the hospital listed under critical condition.

I Really Don’t Get It…

UPDATED: After receiving a comment on this post from Corinne De Patie… Grant De Patie’s mother…. I am now urging everyone who comes across this post (especially if you are a Canadian citizen) to write to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada regarding the reduced sentence of her son’s murderer. This could have been your friend… your son.. your brother. You can do this by mail or email at the following addresses:

Honorable Robert Douglas Nicholson

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

284 Wellington Street

Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8

Or by email at webadmin@justice.gc.ca

I was up quite early this morning as I am most mornings and watching the local news. A news article came on about the youth involved in the death of Grant De Patie….. and how his sentence has now been reduced by 2 years due to the situation in which he grew up (I guess he didn’t have a great family life) and because of his aboriginal status.

I then heard some other story about some other guy… who was in jail for murdering someone else and how he would most likely be released after he had served 2/3’s of his sentence due to good behavior while incarcerated.

I really don’t understand this whole “good behavior” thing. Why is it that when someone is charged, convicted and sentenced for a crime that they have committed… are they then given the opportunity to be released far before the time that the judge or jury sentenced them to? It doesn’t seem right. A sentence is a sentence. I don’t think that when a judge or jury sentences someone to say 7 years in jail.. they actually really mean that they want him or her to only spend 5 years in jail. This person would not be in jail if it were not for their own actions… actions in which they committed a crime against someone… so why the hell should they be released on good behavior? They didn’t seem to give a shit about good behavior before they ended up in jail in the first place.

This also happened with my ex. The charges that were laid against him.. and the sentence that was brought down upon him was pretty much a joke. Time served. Why is it that a day in jail is worth 2 days in the “real world”? Is a day not a day? And why… if a person spends time in pre-trial facility….. is that time that they served worth more time than the time they would spend in jail after they were sentenced? Does anyone know why this is?

The government of Canada needs to seriously step back and take a long hard look at this so called court system we have got going on here in this country… because as it stands right now… it seems to favor the criminal and not the victims…. which is quite sad.