C-10 A Dark Day for Canada
Yesterday, Canadian parliament passed the omnibus C-10 Crime Bill, which includes 9 laws the Conservative party of Canada failed to pass as a minority government. This is possibly the worst thing to happen to Canada in a long time; we might not see the consequences soon, but they will be large, wide and deep. Tens of thousands more people in jail, clogged courts and thousands of lives ruined for no good reason. This law was created and passed without consultation or without the slightest respect for science and analysis, 100% ideological nonsense. Good job Conservative Party of Canada. The quick passage of the bill is not surprising considering the Conservative Party’s past accomplishments (see my old 6 point summary of why Harper is probably not the best prime minister we’ve ever had).
Recently, Bryan Stevenson of Equal Justice Initiative gave a formidable TED Talk (below) on the cruel injustice of the American penal system. In the States, 13 year olds are tried for life and handed life sentences and many states do not allow convicts to vote, even after release from prison. While C-10 is not as bad as US penal law, it is a step in that failed direction. Fundamentally, a good justice system is one that focuses on prevention and rehabilitation; Canada has a decent system, though not perfect. C-10 and the conservative ideology behind it proposes that punishment is the best penal system, that ‘whipping’ people with harsh uncompromising prison terms will reduce crime – it has never worked, and never will. Nearly every group – lawyers, judges, social workers and provincial governments – opposed this law, but Conservatives paid no heed.
Not much to add, but this is indeed a sad day for the fair and just Canada that I hope to live in. At least some judges are starting to oppose the law and hopefully it can be overturned through charter rights, or a new government.
Published on March 13, 2012
Great content on social inequality and the societal impacts
Not too much time to blog lately. If you are interested in social inequality and its impacts on general society; take a bit of time to list to Chris Hedges talks about his recent book Empire of Illusion on CBC Ideas and this three part CBC Ideas series on the widening income gap in Canada. For something a bit more hopeful, though also quite interesting, listen to this podcast on manufacturing in the US and the challenges and advantages with Chinese manufacturing.
A good video with Robert Reich, former Labour secretary under Bill Clinton.
Published on March 11, 2012
C-10 “Stupid” Crime Bill Explained
The C-10 Bill is sitting in Senate and poised to pass. It is a really, really, really stupid bill that goes agains tall empirical research on crime, prisons and rehabilitation of criminals. Nearly every major group of lawyers, judges, right advocates and anyone else involved in the penal system has come out against it. Of couse, Harper couldn’t care less.
The video below spends some time explaining the consequences of the bill. It focuses mainly on the costs (a big issue) and does not talk much about the morality of short sightendenss of the bill; nevertheless, it is well worth a watch. And please do contact your Sentor.
Published on February 20, 2012
Recent great books
Just wrapped up some great books worth reading.
Culture and Leisure by W.H. Auden
My friend Matt Finn recommended this short essay on the meaning of work, play and labour and why we consume so darn much material goods.
Getting to Yes by Fischer, Ury and Patton
A classic how-to book on negotiation, should be read by all.
The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens
A beautiful tale of an irish boy who comes of age during the famine and makes his way to Montréal. Worth reading.
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda
Money quote, “Why be elated by material profit? The one who pursues a goal of even-mindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss. He knows that man arrives penniless in this world, and departs without a single rupee.”. Still working on this one, should be done soon though!
Published on February 1, 2012Coming changes to the system – Slavok Zizek on Charlie Rose
I like the philosopher Slavok Zizek more and more. His regular Al Jazeera English interviews are always rather entertaining and over the top, but in this Charlie Rose segment he manages to stay quite resonable (by Zizek standards). I should probably read some of his books now. His point that we need to seriously re-evaluate the state of present day capitalism and democracy really hits home. With the recent NY Times piece on Apple’s production system in China making the rounds, it is becoming more and more evident that we cannot keep on the path we are on.
Zizek is quite clear he does not have the answers, but he is at least willing to have us ask questions. One of his key points in the interview below is the contradiction in our society’s position on possibilities. On the one hand, science and technology appear more and more limitless – cloning, organ transplants, cloud computing, green energy; on the other hand, whenever we propose policy changes about pressing issues such as education or healthcare reform, we proudly proclaim that we cannot change, don’t have the money or can’t find a reasonable solution people will be satisfied with. This dichotomy of attitudes is quite puzzling. Not too much to add, but do watch the interview and pay attention, the crazy Slovenian might be onto something!
Slavoj Žižek – Charlie Rose interview.27.10.2011 by laststudio
Published on January 22, 2012