Thought this would be an appropriate topic to revive in order to share this article from the Globe and Mail on Friday, January 22, 2010.
If one can believe polls, and I know many don’t, this one appears to show that a majority of Canadians now support the death penalty. I believe I would like to see several more polls, showing similar results, before I would say this is a new trend.
Canadians' views on crime are hardening, poll finds - The Globe and Mail
Canadians' views on crime are hardening, poll finds
Kirk Makin Justice Reporter
From Friday’s Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010
Last updated on Friday, Jan. 22, 2010
Despite falling crime rates, majority of Canadians support mandatory minimum sentences – even the death penalty.
“This hardening attitude among Canadians is revealed in a new Angus Reid public opinion survey that found 62 per cent of respondents favour capital punishment for murderers, while 31 per cent believe that rapists should be put to death.
The figure is a significant boost from the last such survey, in 2004, when 48 per cent favoured capital punishment for murderers.”
Makes one wonder what has happened in the intervening six years to change the opinion of so many. If, indeed, crime is down in Canada, then whatever has driven 14% of respondents to change their minds?
“There is a strong sense that punishment is an appropriate response to criminal acts, and that we are kind of cynical about reform,” said Andrew Grenville, chief research officer at Angus Reid.
“There is strong support for severely punishing people. This is not the way Canadians tend to describe themselves.”
Is it just me, but don’t these sentences contradict one another? If Canadians don’t describe themselves this way, then where is the ‘strong support’ coming from???
“The findings are in harmony with a
mantra that has emerged from Parliament in the last couple of years. The federal government has introduced 17 bills in the justice field, most of which crack down on crime and toughen sentencing provisions.”
Mantra: A mystical formula of invocation or incantation. (Merriam-Webster) In other words, Canadians are all under some magical spell cast by the government. That’s pretty heavy magic, IMHO.
“Sanjeev Anand, a University of Alberta law professor, said that Canadians are ignoring warnings from law professors and criminologists that mandatory minimums do not deter crime. “I think they are buying Ottawa's message,” he said. “
They are not thinking the way criminals think. Most criminal acts are impulsive; they are not well thought out.”
Some of us may be ‘ignoring warnings from law professors and criminologists’ because we read sentences like this and have to wonder whatever were they thinking, when they said it. If we were thinking like criminals, I am quite sure we would have an entirely different slant on the matter. Point is, most of us are fairly law abiding citizens (left some leeway there).
“Craig Jones, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, said the survey results “reveal quite
a stark disconnect from reality. I certainly see where the government thinks it is gaining support for its crime agenda,” he said.”
I see, so not only are we under a spell by the government but we are also delusional – gotcha! At this rate, I expect we will all be a bunch of slobberin’ idgits by the end of the article.
“Add to that the kinds of news sources that people consume on a regular basis,” he said. “Our brains are primed to
freak out faster than to deliberate.”
What did I say! Spell bound, delusionary, and freaking out of our minds - there is no hope for us at all.
I simply can’t read anymore. 
Again, the entire article may be found at:
Canadians' views on crime are hardening, poll finds - The Globe and Mail 
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