Omnibus Crime Bill Lurches Towards Passage

I don't get very political but I thought I'd share the Green party's concerns with everyone. Just because I COMPLETELY agree and think something needs to be done. CANADIANS need to act out now or child molesters could get away with lesser harsh offeneses against them then a teen or adult who gets caught with some pot. PLEASE ACT NOW!!!

LINK: http://greenparty.ca/newsletter-articles/2011-10-13/omnibus-crime-bill-lurches-towards-passage?


13 October 2011 - 3:09pm
This Halloween, I am wondering if you would join me in "Greening" our "Trick or Treat" traditions.

Sadly, UNICEF has given up on its little orange box penny collections on Halloween. That used to be a way of providing an ethical dimension, but there are still things you can do.

First, an ethical chocolate challenge. We don't think about it much, but the trade in chocolate for those bite size morsels of commercial chocolates are not organic and not fairly traded. That means that the workers who pick the cocoa beans are not paid properly. Worse, it means you could be inadvertently supporting the use of child labour in conditions of slavery. True, organic and fair trade chocolate is much more expensive. Still, I buy it to give out on Halloween -- one little piece per customer. And I mix it up with healthy granola bars. No complaints yet!

Second, after the holiday has passed, help get all those carved pumpkins into the compost bin. A pumpkin round up can be fun for neighbourhood kids and keep those ghoulish gourds from becoming methane to warm the climate.

Meanwhile, I will be keeping a close eye on the scary bills in the House of Commons. If you have not done so yet, please go to www.greenparty.ca and click on the graphic of Frankenstein stalking the statue of blind-folded justice. The Omnibus Crime Bill is lurching toward passage, with all its wrong-headed provisions for mandatory minimum sentences, elimination of house arrest and other community based sentencing, moving toward more jail time and more jails. Experience in the US proves this approach does not reduce crime, but does drive up costs.

Very scary.
Elizabeth May
Leader, Green Party of Canada

Canada needs Jobs not Jails

I don't get very political but I thought I'd share the Green party's concerns with everyone. Just because I COMPLETELY agree and think something needs to be done. CANADIANS need to act out now or child molesters could get away with lesser harsh offeneses against them then a teen or adult who gets caught with some pot. PLEASE ACT NOW!!!

LINK: http://greenparty.ca/newsletter-articles/2011-10-11/canada-needs-jobs-not-jails?

11 October 2011 - 3:33pm

Parliament is back, and the Conservative Government has rolled their ‘tough on crime’ agenda into Bill C-10: Safe Streets and Communities Act, a.k.a. the Omnibus Crime Bill.

The Omnibus Crime Bill is bad policy. Ideologically driven, the bill will establish harsher laws for youth offenders and legislate mandatory minimum sentences for a number of crimes. The upshot will be overcrowded prisons, billions of dollars flowing from the public purse and a criminal justice system that transforms first time offenders into hardened criminals. Even more troubling, the Bill will disproportionately target people with mental illness, those that suffer from substance abuse or citizens who live in marginalized communities.

Academics, lawyers and judges, police officers and even prison guards agree that ‘tough on crime’ policy does not work. We only need to examine our southern neighbours to remind ourselves that a system of preventative and rehabilitative justice is a hell-of-a-lot better than a system driven by a desire to punish.

The bad news: Harper currently holds a Majority mandate and will likely succeed in passing bill C-10. He has already rammed the Omnibus Crime Bill through parliament, obfuscating information about the financial burden of such legislation while inhibiting meaningful discussion and parliamentary oversight.

The good news: Despite holding a majority mandate, Harper still lacks two essential things: support of evidence and support of the majority of Canadians.

Canadians don’t actually want to be tough on criminals, they just don’t want crime. The Conservative messaging strategists however, have been successful at convincing Canadians that these two interests are synonymous. Days ago, the Conservative Minister of Justice smugly asserted that Bill C-10 is “just the beginning” of changes to the criminal code. It is crucial that the public take back control over the conversation and re-establish that Harper’s approach does not represent Canada’s wishes.

We must tell our government that despite Conservative rhetoric, we know that crime is actuallydecreasing in Canada. We want our precious tax dollars spent on teachers, doctors and childcare providers because we know that prevention and rehabilitation is far cheaper and more effective at reducing crime. We don’t want to operate like the United States who incarcerates one out of every 100 citizens at a cost of $60,000 per year per inmate. We need to tell our Government that Canadians will not vote for a party that devises and imposes key policy decisions based on ideology rather than sound evidence and research.

The Young Greens plan to take a lead on reclaiming this public discussion. As a start, we will be partnering with OpenMedia.ca to screen a documentary on Internet spying on Campuses across Canada. We will be rolling out the details of actions in the coming weeks, please stay tuned as we unveil our ‘schools not cells’ and ‘jobs not jails’ campaigns.

If you are interested in the campaign or wish to find out how you can help, please send us an email at youth@greenparty.ca

Just feeling unloved!

I recently celebrated my 30th birthday. I started a new job, so I had to work it. Not too bad, its fine. I did receive tones of facebook happy birthdays. Super sweet. I thanked everyone who said happy birthday to me and I super appreciated everyone who did. I just the thing was there's some I wish would've remembered and I noticed they didn’t. =( Even as I’m typing this I know that sounds so shallow but one was my close friend who I just did something huge for her on her birthday, and we didn't even celebrate mine together. This job is stressful, and it just really made me sad that the people I love the most didn't think of me. =(

Heat = Power = Huge Bill!!

So I am having some issues with this new place I live in. Everything is quite broke, but the worst issue is the heating bill. My heating bill for the last 56 days was 830.00$. CRAZY!!! I don’t even know how I am going to pay that right now because I am unemployed. I am looking for work, but most of the businesses are going out of business in the small town I am currently in. So no where is hiring. What do I do? Stress is killing me.