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Misplaced Priorities |
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| St. Boniface - Thursday, May 15, 2003 - by: Mike Reilly | |||||||
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The Liberal government has failed to protect Canadian families from violent sexual predators. | ||||||
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While the Chretien cabinet debates decriminalizing marijuana, legislation to create a national sex offender registry languishes in committee. | ||||||
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The murder of Holly Jones reminds us that while the Liberals campaigned on setting up a database of convicted sex offenders, they have since shifted their priorities to other areas. To increase the insult to the public, the proposed registry will not be retroactive. Convicted offenders currently at large and those who will eventually be released from prison, will not be required to register. | ||||||
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Why the authors of the legislation would take such a half measure demonstrates this government's disregard for law enforcement officials who struggle to get information about potential threats in their neighbourhoods. | ||||||
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The painful irony has been the government's steadfast devotion to the long gun registry. No improvement to public safety has been demonstrated from the nearly $1 billion spent to catalogue the type of guns used in less than 2% of violent crime. Protecting our children from the pedophile down the block must be a priority for public officials; Canadians must demand action now. | ||||||
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| Reference: | |||||||
| CBC, Police 'one tip away' from catching Holly's killer, May 15, 2003, CBC news | |||||||
| CBC, Missing Toronto girl found dead, May 14, 2003, CBC News | |||||||
| CTV, Police demand national sex offender registry, May 15, 2003, CTV news | |||||||
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