carepov

How about you MG, what is you opinion on the Aboriginal Corrections program? http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/aboriginal/002003-1001-eng.shtml

Your Secretary Gates said that we were "punching above our weight", i.e we were good team players. Sharing resources is good teamwork. Rescuing hostages is good teamwork.

Exactly. If you have faith in public opinion's concept of justice, why even bother with judges? We can have a reality TV show where the public votes in the verdict and then the sentence. I'll bet that the advertising revenue would greatly surpass anything that your forced labour work camps could generate.

Renting and buyng parts and equipment from allies is not under-contributing - it's teamwork.

It was U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that said Canada was "punching above our weight: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-06-21-US-stuck-with-NATO-bill_n.htm You think that Canada and the US should split air defence 50/50? Seriously? I have tried and cannot come up with any credible criticisms of Canada under-contributing to NATO or ABCA. I keep coming up with reports like this one: http://www.cdfai.org/PDF/Canada%20and%20NATO%20-%20A%20Military%20Assessment.pdf that stress the importance of working with and supporting the US. That is what I've been saying all along. Can you please stop with you "support the troops" bullshit. Your approach is to expand military capabilities indefinitely without consideration of budget constrints, waste, or the development of useless capabilities. If I remember correctly you were in favour of a fleet of Canadian aircraft carriers! Guess what happens when you spread yourself too thin? Thant's right you end up being a jack of all trades and a master of none. More coffins, amputees and mental scars are coming back under your plan compared to mine!

I do not see it as different tiers of justice. It is a different approach or administration of justice. Do you find it abhorrent that there are different laws and sentences in different provinces and countries? By getting rid of it you would be making our justice system more abhorrent. We already have different tiers of justice, for evidence check out: http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter4.html#13

I'm quite sure that the costs of managing the program, transportation, supervision, security, etc... would make such programs unfeasible. There are work, education and training programs in prisons, perhaps these should be expanded. WRT corporal punishment, do you mean this? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prison-beatings-caught-on-video-at-ontario-and-quebec-jails-1.2426904

You trust judges, that weigh both sides of every case, less than politicians, that hear none of the details of the case? You think that politicians are more interested in justice than judges? Seriously?

What is you opinion on this program? http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/aboriginal/002003-1001-eng.shtml How would you "leave race out of the equation?"

I disagree. Native Canadian societies are living with various diseases (medical and social) and focussed programs are needed to rectify the diseases. Do you find it controversial that some programs that try to treat prostate cancer look only at older men? How about skin cancer programs that benefit only white people or even just red-heads? It is perfectly reasonable to, (in fact it would be stupid not to) implement programs that try to reduce alcoholism, child abuse, FAS, obesity, diabetes, etc.. in Aboriginal communities

Here is some data from 2008. Do you think that increased rates of neglect/abuse in childhood have anything to do with increased rates of incarceration? How does the risk to Aboriginal children compare to non-aboriginal children in the same region? Maltreatment in substantiated investigations, involving First Nations and non-Aboriginal children, conducted in sampled agencies in 2008 (rate per 1,000 First Nations or non‑Aboriginal children in areas served by sampled agencies) Neglect: 8.0 times greater Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: 4.7 times greater Emotional Maltreatment: 5.4 greater Physical Abuse: 2.1 times greater Sexual Abuse: 2.7 times greater http://www.fncaringsociety.com/sites/default/files/docs/FNCIS-2008-report.pdf (page 19)

Not necesarily. Violence is a problem. First, is it "positive discrimination" to focus on stopping violence against women? Aboriginal women are 3.5 times more likely to be victims of violence compared to non-Aboriginal women. 49 http://www.canadianwomen.org/facts-about-violence Second, is it "positive discrimination" to focus on stopping violence against Aboriginal women? Or should we just ignore this fact? Aboriginal women in Canada are far less secure than the average Canadian, is this not evidence of discrimination?

No, it is more likely that the child's mother was drinking, made other poor decisions, or was the victim of violence, neglect or mistreatment during pregnancy. OK, I never said it was.

No, in our society, race matters. Choose any reasonable definition of success; a child born today into a Native family does not have the same probability of "success" as a child born into a non-Native family. Certainly there has been some improvement compared to 20-30 years ago. But there is still clearly a need for programs such as: http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/aboriginal/002003-1001-eng.shtml Yes, it has been over 10 years since the final report of the Manitoba commission, but the report is still very apt today. http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter4.html

GDP per capita: http://www.google.ca/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_pcap_kd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:CAN:USA&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false http://www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/[email protected]?iid=35

GMO crops are tested for allergens and environmental concerns. Have any significant problems come up in the last 30 years? Doesn't "natural" cross breeding of plants pose the same risks of becoming "invasive species"? We have been doing this (without testing) for generations. WRT to Golden Rice, just imagine if Beta-carotene escaped into the wild and somehow got into carrot or broccoli crops, oh the horror! The scientific concensus is that Golden Rice is safe.

No, your being silly. I am in favour of the status quo. There is no need to expand "positive discrimination". dre had a good point but it is not the only reason that Natives are over-represented in prisons. There is a vicious cycle and it needs multiple interventions and investments to break it. More money on legal aid will be expensive for little benefit. The current program is creating a bennefit while saving money. My understanding is that victims are in favour too.

I am neither for/against the status quo for testing drugs. My limitted understanding is that people (rich or poor) can consent to risky trials if they feel that the risk of their disease outweighs the risk of the proposed drug. Golden Rice is safe. Greenpeace opposes continued testing. What is your position?

dre is right, an ideal justice system is impractical - sometimes you need to put aside ideals and do what's best in the real world

Agreed. We disagree on the net effect, fine. With the one modification, I agree. Islam is not Christianity but it is not uniform, homogeneous, nor static Despite a few recent set-backs, in the last 100 years Turkey has become more tolerant and has modernized. Yes ideologies contain ideas. The adherents choose how to believe, interpret, prioritize and act on these ideas.

So are you in favour of a "get tough on crime" approach towards natives and increase their numbers in prison, or would you expand the "get smart on crime" approach to non-natives? IMO, the program to reduce the numbers of natives in prisons does protect society from criminals. If we were to keep locking them up in the numbers that were we would just be manufacturing more criminals, this generation and subsequent ones - this to me would be far more offensive than the current "positive discrimination". Also, the money wasted on excessive incarceration is offensive.

The key word is usually. I agree that affirmative action is overdone and perhaps it is doing more harm than good overall. Some "positive discrimination" practices in Canada seem sensible to me: -Special treatment for natives in the justice system in order to reduce their over-representation -Better access for natives for post-secondary education -Some hiring programs (in government and business) to encourage the workforce to better reflect the diversity of the population they serve. For example it is good to have a representative proportion of natives as part of the RCMP.

You have a point. Are these images better?

As I said, technically anything is possible. At some point, (e.g. < 0.01 % probability) you have to call it a "practical impossibility". The threshold depends on the type of event being considered. The point is that if these leaders and their supporters were religious, it is very, very, very, very, very unlikely that their crimes would have been any worse. And, IMO there is a chance that their crimes would have been lessened.