Commentary
Hug-a-thug policies are failing to protect the public. The federal Liberals’ gun-control policies have not worked. It’s time to abandon “catch-and-release” policies and return to the traditional principles of policing espoused by Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing.
Sir Peel introduced the “Bobbies” to London, England, back in 1822, by promising that police would honour the basic rules of fairness. According to Sir Peel, the police need to share the responsibility of policing duties with the public, not act as an occupying force.
For the good of the community, the police should work with the residents, encouraging them to help in protecting public safety—not just impose dictates from Ottawa. The RCMP has abandoned Sir Peel’s principles.
Swapping public safety ministers makes no difference. Replacing Marco Mendicino with Dominic LeBlanc changes nothing. Ministers must do what Trudeau and his progressive cabal of advisers tell them to do. The same organ grinder continues to call the tune, so switching monkeys makes no difference. Unless Trudeau starts to respect traditional Canada, his government will continue to oppose the gun rights of Canadians.
Federal Policies Fail to Protect Canadians
The feds are playing politics with policing and the law, and doing so undermines Canadians’ safety. Favoured groups are treated with kid gloves while ordinary people are considered to be public safety threats. Thanks to the government’s catch-and-release policies, violent crime has increased by 30 percent since Justin Trudeau was first elected prime minister in 2015.Since 2015, the homicide rate has increased by 32 percent, while firearm-related homicides have almost doubled from 181 to 343. In 2022, Canada’s homicide rate was the highest it’s been since 1992, according to StatsCan. Police officers are being murdered in the line of duty at horrifying rates. These gruesome increases are driven by gang-related killings.
Cracking down on law-abiding licensed gun holders won’t stop or even slow down “gun violence.” Smuggled guns drive violent crime in Canada. According to Toronto Police Inspector Norm Proctor, 97 percent of crime guns are smuggled into Ontario. Toronto Deputy Chief Myron Demkiw testified earlier that 86 percent of crime guns were smuggled into Canada.
Instead of centralizing power in Ottawa, which assumes Ottawa knows best, the solution is to unleash individual freedom.
In the United States, citizens are trusted to protect themselves and their neighbours, but not in Canada. Thanks to the Second Amendment, Americans can arm themselves for protection. Ottawa prefers victims to responsible citizens. Bill C-21, which further criminalizes law-abiding citizens, is in the Senate and is expected to become law in 2024, given the large numbers of appointed senators who appear to agree with Trudeau’s policies.
Not content with bringing in increasingly restrictive regulations, in the past few years the Liberals have destroyed the shooting sports by prohibiting and eventually confiscating more than $4 billion worth of firearms.
In 2020, hundreds of thousands of firearms with a total value of more than $3 billion were prohibited. In 2022, the federal government out of the blue decided to have a “national freeze” on handgun sales, prohibiting the legal sale or inheritance of almost all handguns and requiring them to be surrendered without compensation when the owner passes away. Another billion dollars worth of firearms lost.
Federal Policies Are Stoking Criminal Violence
Passed in November 2022, Bill C-5 scrapped mandatory minimum sentences for 13 firearm offences and all drug offences, opening the door for smugglers. These included crimes such as:- Robbery with a gun
- Extortion with a gun
- Reckless discharge of a firearm
- Drive-by shootings
- Shooting with intent to endanger a life
- Using a gun in the commission of a crime
- Illegal firearm possession
- All drug crimes including smuggling
By Bill C-83, the Liberals made it easier for serious, violent criminals, like Paul Bernardo, to move to a medium-security prison by requiring the least restrictive conditions as part of the jail conditions.
The Liberals push soft-on-crime policies because they claim “systemic racism” affects black, indigenous, and marginalized Canadians and leads to over-incarceration. In 2021, for example, indigenous Canadians were much more often accused of homicide (11.8 per 100,000 indigenous people) than non-indigenous people (1.3 per 100,000 non-indigenous).
This is flawed thinking, however progressive. Such policies may keep “racialized” thugs out of jail, but they don’t protect victims. The victims of black, indigenous, and marginalized Canadians are more likely to be black, indigenous, and marginalized themselves.
In 2021, indigenous Canadians were six times more likely to be murdered than non-indigenous Canadians, according to Statistics Canada (9.2 per 100,000 versus 1.6 per 100,000). Most victims know their killer. The problem isn’t systemic racism, but violent criminals. Prison may not rehabilitate violent criminals, but it keeps them off the streets and protects victims.
The problem is not “gun violence,” it’s violent criminals.
Murderers are aberrant. It is true that most murderers are men (over 80 percent), as are most murder victims (75 percent), but few men are accused of murder (around 4 per 100,000).
In 2020, almost two-thirds (62 percent) of those accused of homicide had a previous criminal conviction, as do most homicide victims (54 percent), according to Statistics Canada. Most murder victims (82 percent) know their killers–typically criminal acquaintances. Killers are not normal people.
Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs
We’ve seen Ottawa’s failed approach to dealing with social problems. It is time to return to Sir Peel’s notion of policing.The responsibility of policing duties must be shared with the public. The police should not act as an occupying force. For the good of the community, the police should encourage residents to be involved in helping protect public safety, not just impose dictates from Ottawa.
It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that there are just victims and criminals. But there is another category: guardian. A common way to phrase this is the famous trichotomy: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. Guardians act as the sheepdogs for society. Behind the scenes, a variety of guardians are continually acting in a healthy society.
Certainly, the police, firefighters, and military are important guardians. But there are many kinds of volunteers who unofficially act as mentors, guides, or guardians:
- Volunteer first responders who fight fires, deal with rural crime and road accidents;
- Priests, ministers, rabbis, and other spiritual leaders;
- Armed citizens who deter crime and protect others;
- Firearm safety instructors, scout leaders, youth sports volunteers;
- First Nations chiefs;
- Sponsors in Alcoholics Anonymous;
- Parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and others.
For the good of the community, the RCMP should return to Sir Peel’s principles and start trusting civilians, perhaps by re-arming police auxiliaries.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
